Transnet is being told to pay damages after accidentally spray-painting a R150-million superyacht, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

The national port regulator faces a R2.5-million demand from boat builder Southern Wind after accidentally showering one of its new vessels with anti-fouling spray at the Robinson dry dock in Cape Town.

Transnet was conducting an anti-fouling operation on two trawlers in the dry dock which resulted in a cloud of spray being blown over onto the Southern Wind vessel.

“You could see the cloud [of spray] as it was blown over. It is unacceptable,” said Southern Wind South Africa yard manager Albert del Cinque.

“The owner was here in Cape Town – he witnessed the whole drama. It was horrible.”

“We had to send teams of people to try and mitigate the damage, and we ended up respraying the boat in Italy,” he said.

The vessel damaged by the spray was a 31.4-metre Southern Wind 96, one of the most expensive boats built in South Africa.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, an exhibitor at the Cape Town International Boat Show said there was widespread unhappiness about Transnet’s dry dock operations, with crucial infrastructure being broken.

18 months after the alleged over-spray incident, the claim has yet to be settled.

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