Today (July 24)sees the arrival of one of the Richards Bay terminal’s largest assets, a custom-built pneumatic ship unloader produced by Swiss shipping manufacturer, Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) Alesa Engineering Ltd.
The unloader is only the seventh of its kind in the world and its arrival signals the start of the Richards Bay terminal’s ambitious R3-billion equipment replacement programme to improve capacity, equipment reliability and service delivery. “This will better enable the terminal to yield maximum results by meeting the needs of its customers,” said Transnet Port Terminals (TPT).
The machine will be able to unload alumina and petcoke from vessels and will facilitate a homogeneous and dust-reduced material flow. It has the capacity to unload 1 000-tonnes per hour by design, making it a valuable acquisition in improving the terminal’s operational efficiency, TPT added.
The arrival of the unloader signals the start of the Richards Bay terminal’s ambitious equipment replacement programme.
TPT has prioritised major projects in Richards Bay over the next seven years which includes R3.7-bn on capital-sustaining investments including mobile equipment, quayside equipment and weighbridges, also safety-critical projects and environmental and legal compliance projects.
Approximately R1.2-bn is to be spent on capacity creation, such as new or upgraded storage areas and re-engineering of the port to create additional capacity.
