Cranes arrive to ease DCT strain

TERRY HUTSON THE PORT of Durban was abuzz with excitement on Women’s Day (August 9) when the semi submersible heavylift vessel Tern arrived with three long-awaited container cranes for the Durban Container Terminal. The cranes were loaded at the port of La Spezia where they were purchased at a cost of R180 million after the Italian port was refused permission to dredge. This left them with surplus super post-panamax cranes able to handle the largest container ships in service but nowhere to work them. La Spezia’s loss became Durban’s gain and with the assistance of Mediterranean Shipping Company which acted in a broking capacity, a deal was struck for the cranes to be transferred to Durban to assist in alleviating some of the congestion being experienced. Work has already begun on positioning them on the South Quay opposite berths 108 and 109, where they will enable the terminal to handle the biggest container ships capable of entering the port of Durban. Modifiying the quayside to accommodate the massive cranes standing 110m tall, has cost R13.2 million, which has come in considerably under budget. “We pulled out all stops to ensure that our investment provided the highest possible return and I can say that this deal gives us more than what we required,” said Hamilton Nxumalo, SA Port Operations Engineering GM, who has responsibility for initiating and implementing the accelerated equipment replacement and acquisition programme at the container terminal. The programme included the purchase of 60 new Kalmar straddle carriers, which have already entered service. Nxumalo said the commissioning of the cranes at the end of September would ease the sweating of Sapo assets at the terminal and is expected to impact tremendously on ship turnaround times.