Cape Town
Sea

Cape Town has a long tradition as a port city, and its role as a re-provisioning stop at the midpoint of the Cape Route gained it the nicknames "Tavern of the Seas" and "Tavern of the Indian Ocean". The Port of Cape Town, the city's main port, is in Table Bay directly to the north of the CBD. The port is a hub for ships in the southern Atlantic: it is located along one of the busiest shipping corridors in the world, and acts as a stopover point for goods en route to or from Latin America and Asia. It is also an entry point into the South African market. It is the second-busiest container port in South Africa after Durban. In 2004, it handled 3,161 ships and 9.2 million tonnes of cargo.

Simon's Town Harbour on the False Bay coast of the Cape Peninsula is the main operational base of the South African Navy.

Until the 1970s the city was served by the Union Castle Line with service to the United Kingdom and St Helena. The RMS St Helena provided passenger and cargo service between Cape Town and St Helena until the opening of St Helena Airport.

The cargo vessel M/V Helena, under AW Shipping Management, takes a limited number of passengers, between Cape Town and St Helena and Ascension Island on its voyages. Multiple vessels also take passengers to and from Tristan da Cunha, inaccessible by aircraft, to and from Cape Town. In addition NSB Niederelbe Schiffahrtsgesellschaft takes passengers on its cargo service to the Canary Islands and Hamburg, Germany.
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