Under cover of the Covid-19 crisis, government and private officials appear to be using legal loopholes to speed up a proposal by a Turkish company and local empowerment partners to sail a small armada of “floating power stations” into South African harbours. While the red flag has been raised by environmentalists and law experts, the Turkish company involved insists that all protocols were being followed and that there was nothing irregular in applying for an environmental exemption during Covid-19.