A backlog has developed at the Port of Durban following a terminal operating-system upgrade that disrupted landside operations at Durban Gateway Terminal.
The terminal suspended landside operations over the weekend for an upgrade to its Navis system, according to the latest Cargo Movement Update compiled by the South African Association of Freight Forwarders and distributed by Business Unity South Africa.
Although the upgrade was completed on Saturday, its effect on operations continued into the following week as the terminal and industry worked through the backlog, the report said.
Durban Gateway Terminal handled 25 793 TEUs between August 10 and 16, a decline of 26% from the previous week. Throughput reached 66% of the terminal’s target for the period.
Vessels spent an average of 66 hours at anchorage and 70 hours at berth during the reporting week. An average of four vessels was waiting at anchorage.
The number of container vessels waiting outside Durban subsequently increased to 10 by Wednesday afternoon, August 19. Seven were waiting for Durban Gateway Terminal, two for Pier 1 and one for the Point terminal.
Maersk reported vessel waiting times of between eight and 12 days, according to the update.
Pier 1 also recorded lower waterside volumes, with throughput declining 12% week on week to 14 250 TEUs.
Vessels calling at the terminal spent an average of 39 hours at anchorage and 84 hours at berth. Truck turnaround time increased 20% to about 48 minutes.
Durban Multi-Purpose Terminal recorded a 20% decline in waterside volumes, although throughput remained 3% above target. Anchorage time averaged 112 hours and vessels spent an average of 83 hours at berth.
Rail container volumes from Durban also declined during the week. The ConCor service handled 2 161 containers, down 33% from 3 232 the previous week.
Across South Africa’s container terminals, throughput fell 19% week on week to 83 471 TEUs, equivalent to a daily average of 11 924 TEUs.
