The Port of Cape Town managed to move a significant number of TEUs during December and January despite heavy winds affecting operations. Transnet Port Terminals representatives told a meeting of the Port Liaison Forum (PLP) recently that targets were not only reached but in January even exceeded. “This is testament to the wind strategy implemented at the port over the past two years and one has to commend the team at the port,” said Mike Walwyn, chairman of the PLP. In December the port handled 66 964 TEUs despite losing 128 working hours to wind. In January wind brought the port to a halt for 157 hours but 77 565 TEUs were still handled, coming very close to the record number of TEUs handled by the port which was 80 000 in August last year. “If one takes the level of wind delay into account then the figures they achieved are impressive,” said Walwyn. A spokesman for the Cape Town Container Terminal said the introduction of a seventh ship-to-shore crane at the end of last year contributed significantly to the figures. “We deployed all seven cranes through December and January. The wind strategy was in place at all times, allowing us to recover very quickly after periods of being wind bound,” he said.
