Hake trawler deck and engine room
Trawl winch brakes, clutches and hydraulic motors, net drum parts, main and auxiliary engine overhaul items, gearbox seals and bearings.
Passat Gear TradeMarine & Industrial Spare Parts
South Africa · Cape Town · Saldanha Bay · Mossel Bay · Gqeberha
European sourcing support for deep-sea trawlers, pelagic and squid vessels, marine engineering workshops and fish processing plants along the West, South and Eastern Cape coasts.
Sourcing for South African fleets and plants
South Africa's deep-sea hake trawl fishery is the country's most valuable fishery. Its industry association, SADSTIA, reports 53 trawlers — 27 freezer trawlers producing sea-frozen fillets and headed-and-gutted hake, and 26 wetfish trawlers landing iced fish for processing ashore — with factories in Cape Town, Gansbaai, Mossel Bay and Gqeberha. The fishery has held MSC certification since 2004.
Many vessels have long service lives. The 65-metre freezer trawler Santa Princesa, introduced to the fishery in 2026, was built in Norway in 1987 and extensively refurbished, and runs a Wärtsilä eight-cylinder main engine with BAADER filleting equipment in its factory. Fleets like this combine current equipment with legacy installations, which means superseded part numbers and parts that have to be found across several European manufacturers.
Passat Gear Trade supports fleet technical managers, chief engineers, Cape Town ship repairers and marine engineering workshops, and processing-plant engineers with that sourcing work.
Ports and fleets
Where the fleets work from and what that typically means for parts. Equipment differs vessel by vessel, so we always work from model and serial numbers.
| Port or area | Fishing and repair activity | Typical spare parts requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Cape Town | Home port for much of the deep-sea hake trawl fleet; the Robinson dry dock and synchrolift serve the fishing industry, alongside the larger Sturrock dry dock | Docking lists, main engine and gearbox overhauls, winch and hydraulic refits, refrigeration and freezer plant parts |
| Saldanha Bay and St Helena Bay (West Coast) | Hake trawling and processing at Saldanha Bay; small pelagic purse seining with canning, fishmeal and fish oil production around St Helena Bay | Purse winch and power block hydraulics, fish pumps, RSW refrigeration, fishmeal plant wear parts, decanter and separator spares |
| Mossel Bay | Trawlers account for most vessel calls by tonnage; hake factory; slipway for vessels up to 200 tonnes | Engine, gearbox and shaft seal parts, pump impellers and seals, valves for slipway dockings |
| Gqeberha and Port St Francis (Eastern Cape) | Squid (chokka) jig fleet based largely on the Eastern Cape coast; hake processing in Gqeberha | Onboard freezing and refrigeration parts, generator set spares, hydraulic and electrical components |
| Gansbaai (Overberg coast) | Hake processing factory employment reported by the deep-sea trawl industry | Processing line parts, refrigeration controls, pumps and filters |
Equipment focus
Trawl winch brakes, clutches and hydraulic motors, net drum parts, main and auxiliary engine overhaul items, gearbox seals and bearings.
Heading, filleting and skinning machine wear parts, conveyors, plate freezer hydraulics and refrigeration compressor parts.
Fish processing machinery
BAADER Fish Processing Parts
OPTIMAR Fish Freezing Parts
Power block and purse winch hydraulics, fish pump parts, RSW plant components, hydraulic valves, filters and seal kits.
Marine hydraulics
Hydraulic Valves Filters Accumulators
Marine pumps
Onboard freezer and refrigeration compressor parts, controls and sensors, generator set spares and electrical components.
Marine refrigeration
Bitzer Refrigeration Parts
Electrical and PLC parts
Cooker, press and dryer wear parts, decanter and separator spares, heat exchanger gaskets, pumps and valves.
Separators and heat exchangers
Alfa Laval Spare Parts
Processing plant parts
Pressure and temperature sensors, transmitters, PLC modules and switchgear, including obsolete references on older vessels.
Sensors and automation
Pressure Transmitters
PT100 Temperature Sensors
Logistics to South Africa
Parts from several European suppliers can be consolidated in Poland into one consignment with one set of export documents, or split so that urgent lines go ahead by air.
Delivery route
Example requests
Illustrative examples of typical requests — not customer references.
Cylinder head gaskets, valve parts and fuel injection components for a medium-speed main engine, ordered against engine type, serial number and parts-book references.
Seal kits for a power block and purse winch hydraulic motor, plus fish pump wear parts, ahead of the pelagic season.
Refrigeration compressor valve plates, pressure controls and sensors for the onboard freezer, quoted from the compressor nameplate.
Decanter centrifuge wear parts and screw press bearings, matched against the plant's maintenance records and machine serial numbers.
Stern tube seal parts, seawater pump impellers and valves for a slipway docking, consolidated into one shipment.
Skinning machine blades, conveyor belting and gearmotors for a filleting line, by machine type and catalogue position.
FAQ
Yes. We arrange freight to the port, airport, clearing agent, forwarder or ship agent you nominate anywhere in South Africa. Urgent items usually travel by air — typically to Cape Town International or OR Tambo in Johannesburg — and heavier or planned items by sea freight, usually to the Port of Cape Town. Routing and costs are quoted per RFQ.
The importer or its appointed clearing agent declares the goods to the South African Revenue Service. We provide the commercial invoice, packing list and, on request, HS codes and the origin information available for the goods, and can work directly with your clearing agent.
Possibly. The EU–SADC Economic Partnership Agreement covers South Africa, but whether a specific item qualifies depends on its origin under the agreement's rules and on valid proof of origin. We confirm what origin documentation is available for each item; your clearing agent decides how the goods are entered.
No. Some equipment manufacturers, Wärtsilä among them, run service operations in Cape Town, and for warranty work or field service those channels are often the right choice. Buyers use us for multi-maker parts lists, items not available locally, obsolete references and European sourcing that would otherwise need several separate inquiries.
Often, yes. Many hulls in the fleet are decades old and have been refurbished. We search distributor and surplus stock and, where appropriate, offer equivalents — always identified on the quotation. A drawing, measurements or a photo of the old part makes these searches much faster.
No. Passat Gear Trade is based in Lublin, Poland, and has no South African office or stock. We work by email and phone; direct contacts are on our team page.
Request a quotation
Send your equipment model, part numbers or parts list. We review every request before quoting and reply by email with prices, lead times and freight options to your port, clearing agent or forwarder.
You will receive a reply by email. We do not use your details for anything other than handling the inquiry — see our privacy policy.
Related pages
Passat Gear Trade has no office, warehouse or agent in South Africa. Vessel and company names on this page come from public reporting and describe the industry; they do not indicate a business relationship.
Passat Gear Trade is an independent sourcing company. Brand names are used for identification purposes only. No formal brand relationship is claimed unless confirmed in writing for a specific supply.
Sources
Fleet, quota and port figures change from season to season. They are quoted here for context only and dated to the publication we took them from.