Cranes will take equipment quota to full strength. No more excuses by mid 2005!

TERRY HUTSON
THE ARRIVAL of three almost new Liebherr super post panamax container cranes at the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) with a further three cranes currently being built in South Africa by the Argentinian company IMPSA, will see the port achieve full strength in terms of equipment for the first time in many years.
DCT has struggled to keep up with demand, with a fleet of 13 cranes for several years, leaving critics to complain it is under-equipped and underfunded. By mid 2005 that will have changed and the terminal will have a fleet of 19 in operation, in effect giving it one crane for every 100m of quay space. Of more importance, the terminal will for the first time be able to employ three or even four cranes per ship on a regular basis. As a result turnaround times are expected to improve dramatically.
In addition DCT has a new fleet of 60 Kalmar straddle carriers on top of another 30 or so that are being refurbished.
There are few terminals anywhere in the world that enjoy such luxury, so port users will be justified in saying the time for excuses is over. Now the port and terminal need to perform, and that means a dramatic improvement in productivity and professionalism. Which is not to suggest that SA Port Operations (Sapo) hasn’t shown a remarkable ability to
keep things working with what
was at its disposal.
“We need to stop blaming port management and look at the broader picture,” says Captain Salvatore Sarno of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), who points out that the situation in Durban is not unique. He believes the introduction of the three Liebherr cranes will see congestion at Durban kept at bay (see Sarno’s comments on page 10).
“The programme of replacing
and acquiring new equipment was initiated to minimise constraints on infrastructure. The new additions, together with the 60 straddle carriers that arrived last year, are expected to make an enormous difference to the busiest port in Africa which handles 65 % of the country’s container traffic,” says Tau Morwe, Sapo chief executive.