DCT equipment upgrades roll into action

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.