The views of our readers regarding the new port at Coega are as divided as those of the shipping lines (FTW June 22, 2001) Here are some of the views expressed. Send your letters to the editor at joyo@nowmedia.co.za or fax (011) 327 4094
'Coega offers the perfect
location for a sub-Saharan hub'
THE HOOPLA surrounding the proposed harbour at Coega rarely deals with the other side of the coin - the harbour and proposed container terminal or "hub".
Shipping lines are building ever larger container vessels to achieve one thing - economy of scale. The cost of transporting a container on the latest generation ships (capable of carrying 8000 units) is about 15% lower than on older, smaller vessels. Sadly, there are no container terminals in SA to handle vessels of this size (or larger). The only existing ports with the draught to handle such vessels are Richards Bay and Saldanha Bay, neither of which is attractive to the shipping lines for a variety of reasons, most importantly cost.
Coega holds the promise to the shipping lines that they can come to SA with such vessels, bringing with them the opportunities for local enterprise.
Consider this editorial quotation from the respected publication "American Shipper"
"One thing is certain that hub-and-spoke shipping is generally more cost effective than direct services on medium and low volume shipping routes.
"The model entails breaking down these routes into short spokes, finding and operating a suitable hub port or terminal at each end, and optimising the entire intermodal/vessel/ port network." South Africa
certainly qualifies as a medium to low volume shipping route in global terms, and Coega offers the perfect location for a sub-Saharan hub.
The author goes on to say: "Paradoxically, in shipping most of the largest container hub ports, such as Singapore, Tanjung Pelapas, Manzanillo, Algeciras and Gioia Tauro, have a small hinterland market.(Does this sound familiar?) They are operationally-based hubs, rather than market-based hubs.
"The long-term implications of the growing hub-and-spoke phenomenon are momentous, and these will have to be watched closely." Philip Damas, writing in the June 2001 American Shipper.
Do we as the citizens of the Eastern Cape want to stand and watch as yet another opportunity to become a vital part of the South African economy slips past?
Jim Page, Greystones, Port Elizabeth.az
