Car terminal achieves quality and safety accolades The right tools help achieve global recognition

TERRY HUTSON
ANOTHER MAJOR development in the port of Durban during 2004 has been the new parking facility and bridge at the Durban Car Terminal. The R100 million project was undertaken by the National Ports Authority on behalf of SA Port Operations, which operates the terminal.
The three-level garage is able to park 950 vehicles on each level and together with the existing outside yard can park a total of 7 000 vehicles at a time, helping to absorb the phenomenal growth in exports and imports registered by the South African motor industry.
The parking facility and yard are linked to the dedicated Ro-Ro berth by an overhead bridge that also opened for business during the year. The bridge brought about an immediate improvement in turnaround time for vehicles being loaded or discharged from vessels and also facilitates night operations for all manufacturers, which wasn’t possible previously.
As a result of these improvements the
terminal expects to handle approximately
160 000 motor vehicles this financial year, up from 143 000 during 2003/04.
“We recognise how vital the automotive sector is to South Africa’s economy and will continue to ensure that the Durban Car Terminal remains world-class and meets global standards of efficiency,” promises Tau Morwe, chief executive of Sapo.
The facility was awarded its ISO 9001:2000 accreditation during the year, which helps ensure that the automotive industry worldwide will remain willing to do business with the terminal and with South Africa. In addition it also won the international NOSCAR (National Occupational Safety Credited Award) for the marine industry. This award requires a company to achieve over 95 % effectiveness of its programmes in a NOSA audit. Having done so the terminal has been accepted on the International Top 100 Companies list.
If the standards set by the Durban Car Terminal prove one thing, it is that with the proper infrastructure and equipment – the ‘right tools’ - there is no reason why other terminals in the port cannot also achieve similar results.