Devastating storm wreaks havoc at CT terminal

RAY SMUTS Monday, April 11 A DEVASTATING storm, the likes of which Capetonians have not experienced in many years, hit the Mother City on Sunday evening. It brought strong southerly winds, hail the size of golf balls to areas like Somerset West, torrential rain, thunder and incessant lightning; grim conditions still much in evidence at first light today as a 95% humidity factor accounted for rain crashing down in sheets. The container terminal located at the far end of Duncan Dock appears to have borne the brunt of the devastation as Sapofs Derek Goetze outlined to FTW. œ Average per vessel delays stood at 32 hours œ Winds of up to 110km/h were recorded in the port at 07:00 yesterday, dropping slightly to around 85km/h by 09:00. œ Cranes had to be lashed to the ground due to the force of the wind ( Sapo does not work in speeds exceeding 80km/h) œ Twelve containers were blown from the stack, damaging some in the process. gThe weather doesnft look at all good right now but we are engaged in re-planning processes all the time. Itfs not a very happy situation,h said Goetze. In A Sapo reshuffle at Cape Town container terminal, Goetze, until now the planning manager, has been named reefer manager, succeeded by David Davids.