Efforts to resolve the long-standing shortage of much-needed equipment at the Port of Cape Town appear to be ahead of schedule with nine new rubber tyre gantry cranes (RTGs) awaiting commissioning in due course.
This has been confirmed by Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) in a statement detailing progress.
According to terminal manager Noxolo Thabatha, “the site team has successfully completed the mechanical assembly of the first nine RTGs with five of these units already having undergone engine start-up and generator powering.
“All nine are mechanically complete and approximately 90% electrically complete.”
Official notification from Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT) follows information from an independent source who told Freight News, on Monday, 9 June, that the commissioning process is ahead of schedule and pre-inspection is already underway.
Thabatha said: “Pre-commissioning checks are currently being finalised on the first RTG.
“We are also pleased to confirm that the commissioning engineer from Liebherr is scheduled to arrive early next week. Following arrival, the commissioning process for the RTGs will begin in earnest with the units brought online consecutively.”
The commissioning process for the initial RTG is expected to take about 10 days, she added.
After that, “the timeframe is anticipated to be reduced for the remaining units as processes are streamlined and efficiencies are gained”.
Another nine new RTGs are expected to arrive at CTCT in July.
Thabatha confirmed this, adding that “endurance testing, mapping and operator training” on the first nine newly commissioned RTGs are planned for the same week.
Once the second batch of nine RTGs has been assembled, inspected and commissioned over the next few months, the port should have its existing fleet doubled by October, the source said.
This will bring the port’s requisite number to 32 but an additional eight, expected by the end of the year, will bring CTCT’s RTG fleet to 40-plus, he added.
Although some machines in the current fleet could be decommissioned and cannibalised for spare parts, the expected commissioning ratio of 9-9-8 RTGs over the next few months should significantly improve throughput at the port.
The source said, together with the 58 haulers in operation, it should be possible to have three RTGs for each of the nine available ship-to-shore (STS) cranes.
Although one of the STS cranes was “sent to technical” at the time this post was being prepared, the source said CTCT is working quickly towards the kind of equipment capability industry expects of the port.