“My first thought was: ‘Sho, she is a big girl!’” said Transnet marine pilot Olwethu Mtsewu-Sisilana as she described bringing one of the world’s largest cargo ships into the deepwater Port of Ngqura.

A 2013 maritime disaster is back in South African courts, with Transnet arguing that it isn’t at fault, and the ship’s owners saying it is, despite a UK tribunal finding the crew responsible for the ...