CT port productivity gets the thumbs up

Cape Town Container Terminal has had its highs and lows over the years but the ‘winds of change’ are clearly blowing in the right direction as the terminal lays claim to leading, in productivity terms, the five container facilities operated by Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) in South Africa. This has been ascribed to better planning and streamlining of operations, including splitting the key operations and planning sections in two. Velile Dube, the new regional terminal executive for TPT’s Western Cape operations, attributes the performance in July to reduction in force majeure disruptions caused by inclement weather, as well as improved employee skills as operators become more proficient in handling the new equipment procured as part of the terminal’s five year capacity creation project. The equipment includes new super post-panamax ship-to-shore cranes and rubber tyred gantries. Decreased terminal stack congestion has encouraged a smoother operational flow. “We have managed to strike a balance in the availability of resources to meet operational demand and have also systematically improved productivity in our RTG crane operations,” says Dube. CTCT achieved on average 24 gross crane moves per hour (GCH) in July, a 9% improvement over the previous month and on track to meet Transnet’s overall target of 26 GCH. Ship working hours maintained at an average of 41 moves on all vessels in July and truck turnaround time was 26 minutes on average, against a target of 30 minutes maximum, while stack occupancy was an average 46% against a ceiling figure of 65%. Western Cape customers have welcomed improvements in the region. “The superior performance by TPT has caught us by surprise and I can assure you the ‘new’ TPT is a truly welcome change,” said Rob McEwan, MSC’s operations manager.