The Durban Car Terminal reached a milestone of handling 600 000 vehicles in 12 months on Wednesday.
Over the past three days, Cattleya Ace operated by MOL Shipping, offloaded 4 025 fully built units and loaded 3 200 export fully built units, including Toyota Hilux and BMW X3 models destined for Europe. Vessel operations were completed one day ahead of the scheduled time. The vessel loaded the 600 000th vehicle on Wednesday morning, marking a post-Covid-19 pandemic milestone for the terminal, and indicating the recovery of the automotive sector globally.
The terminal, which is the biggest automotive terminal operator in Sub-Saharan Africa, handled an average of 2 100 fully built units per vessel throughout the 2022/2023 financial year, ending this month. This terminal broke its own monthly record on two occasions in the last twelve months, handling 72 000 fully built units in April 2022 and another 77 000 in October 2022.
Managing Executive of the Durban Terminals, Earle Peters, attributed the performance to the terminal’s committed team.
“We are constantly reinventing ourselves operationally, introducing initiatives that prioritise maximum benefit to the customer.”
He said benchmarking had also contributed to how the team had performed optimally yet safely throughout the financial year.
“Strategies and plans without any commitment do not succeed and this is why we are very proud of the men and women of the terminal for their demonstrated competence and willingness to delight the customer,” said Peters.
He said the terminal had enhanced its performance by reviewing its yard planning, allowing for ample preloading space that ensured no vehicles were received when a vessel had already berthed. Additional waterside capacity had also been created to keep up with demand.
Increasing volumes were also attributed to the reopening of the hospitality industry after the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the car-hire industry fleeting up and car manufacturers stocking up for festive season specials.
The vehicles handled had included many import back orders after an extended automotive global parts shortage over the past two years. Transhipment volumes were also on the rise as demand continued to grow on second-hand passenger, high and heavy vehicles destined for East and West Africa.
In addition to import and transhipment vehicles, the Durban Car Terminal moves 14 of the 17 models manufactured in South Africa for export to over 150 markets worldwide, including Europe, Asia and Africa as the biggest consumers. Export models include Toyota Hilux, VW Amarok, Ford Ranger, BMW X3 and the Isuzu KB. The 2022/2023 financial year has seen the Durban Car Terminal handle more than 600 000 units and servicing approximately 30 customers.
