Equipment upgrades
and acquisition of new
equipment will play a key
role in the recovery plan
for the Durban Container
Terminal (DCT) as the major
programme to strengthen,
stabilise and deepen the
North Pier goes ahead.
Transnet Port Terminals
is also beefing up its human
resources and focusing on
productivity as it pushes
ahead with its operational
recovery plan.
Some R6 billion of the
R7.4 billion allocated to the
Port of Durban over the next
seven years will go to DCT
Pier 2, Hector Danisa, DCT
terminal executive, told
FTW.
The bulk of the money has
been allocated to the major
programme at the North
Pier, a project that kicked off
in February and lasts until
December 2017 – and sees
the installation of the crane
rails for the new tandem-lift
cranes, scour protection and
berth deepening.
As work progresses,
planned equipment upgrades
will reduce the impact of
breakdowns due to ageing
equipment at DCT, said
Danisa. The concerted
effort to carry out midlife
refurbishments on machines
is under way – a planned
maintenance and repair
programme that is long
overdue, according to
port users who have been
bedeviled by the work
slowdowns the breakdowns
of old, under-maintained
equipment have caused.
Twenty four secondgeneration
straddle
carriers have already been
refurbished, with another
six due to be refurbished by
the end of this month. The
next refurbishment of the
machines is due to start in
the third quarter of this year.
At the same time, four of
the old Noell ship-to-shore
(STS) cranes are also due to
be refurbished. According
to Danisa, two have already
completed the programme,
but work on the other two
has been delayed due to the
procurement process, and
are now due to be finished
by December. The decision
on whether to refurbish
the remaining two STS
cranes, or to buy new, is still
pending, he added.
The acquisition of new
equipment is also under way.
Twenty eight of the latest
generation of diesel-electric
straddle carriers have
already been delivered, 14
of which have a twin-lift
capability. Added to this
are seven new tandem-lift
STS cranes which will
replace the five Noell cranes
currently being scrapped –
due to be delivered by yearend,
and to be sited on the
North Pier.
DCT equipment upgrades roll into action
25 May 2012 - by Alan Peat
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