Berthing delays persist despite upgrades

Ships’ agents doing business at South African ports are battling berthing delays due to a shortage of tugs, a scarcity of pilots and an inconsistent helicopter pilot service that seems to be more fragile than ever, according to industry leaders. In addition, said CEO of the South African Association of Ship Operators and Agents (Saasoa), Peter Besnard, dredging has posed a problem that has resulted in the berth draughts being reduced and under-keel clearance increased. This has meant that limitations have had to be imposed, bringing about a marked drop in vessel liftings and throughput through the Port of Durban. According to Besnard, this is a worrying trend that is sure to drive up the cost of doing business. SDV South Africa’s shipping manager, Vernon Pillay, told FTW that the Port of Cape Town needed a helicopter pilot service as well. ”During winter months, vessels often have to wait days to enter the port until the swell subsides. A helicopter drop could save quite a bit of time,” he said. In his opinion, the Port of Cape Town has shown the most improvement recently in terms of infrastructure development and taking steps to improve efficiency. “The new ship-to-shore gantries at the container terminal and the mobile cranes at the multipurpose terminal have certainly made a difference to productivity,” commented Pillay. Besnard agreed that presently Cape Town remained the best terminal in South Africa but added that the ports of Durban and Ngqura had made the most improvements over the past two years. “Ngqura has increased gantry crane capacity, stacking space as well as extended the quay length. Furthermore, it has installed the MoorMaster berthing/ secure system as well as new rubber tyre gantries,” he said. Durban’s installation of the rail gantry cranes, mobile cranes for the multipurpose terminals, as well as some new straddle carriers, also put it in the lead in terms of improvements, he said. The issues around productivity and capacity however mean that a lot still needs to be done to get Durban operating the way it should, according to Besnard. CAPTION Industry leaders say the Port of Cape Town is currently the best terminal in South Africa.