Durban dwell time ‘best’ in Africa

The Port of Durban has taken regional honours in container dwell time, leaving other ports in sub-Saharan Africa trailing sadly in its wake, according to a paper just released by the World Bank’s Africa region transport unit. But the dwell time figure is only one of the many measures of a port’s success. And, beyond dwell time, Durban fails miserably at its other functions – with its overall performance at landing cargo, and moving it out of the port, being condemned by a spokesman for the container transport trucking industry. The objective of the paper – titled: “Cargo Dwell Time in Durban – Lessons for Sub- Saharan African Ports” – was to compare Durban to other ports in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and to identify the main reasons why cargo dwell time had been dramatically reduced in the past decade to a current average of 3-4 days. A number of factors played a major role. They were: A major customs reform; changes in port storage tariffs coupled with strict enforcement; massive investments in infrastructure and equipment; and changing customer behaviour through contractualisation between the port operator and shipping lines or between customs importers, and brokers. Figures for dwell time at Durban container terminal (DCT) Pier 2 submitted by Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), and confirmed to the research team by shipping lines and shippers, indicated a 3-4 day normal (standard import and export containers) dwell time at the terminal since 2006. However, dwell time for transhipments is around 5-10 days with a few irregular peaks at around the 15 days mark. This, said the paper, is related to the fact that “free time” for transhipment is set at 7 days (with low charges below 15 days). Durban is by far the port where dwell time is the lowest in southern Africa, and SSA in general. The Durban figure compares with 6 days at CT; 7 days at EL; 6 days at PE; 8 days at Walvis Bay, Namibia; 12 days at Luanda, Angola; 20 days at Beira, Mozambique; and 22 days at Maputo – all ports in southern Africa. It remains at a high level at other ports in SSA – being 19 days in Douala, Cameroon; 18 in Lome, Togo; 20 in Tema, Ghana; 9 in Mombasa, Kenya; and 19 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. But Dave Watts, Durbanbased maritime adviser to the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff), is concerned about an area of the report that deals with transhipments. It’s most noticeable at DCT Pier 1, where the percentage measure of available capacity being used frequently reaches abnormally high levels – and the terminal grinds quickly to a halt because it is jammed up. Watts noted that the World Bank report estimated transhipments accounted for about 20% of the total cargo. “If you want to reduce dwell time, you need to cut back on transhipments, rather than have the TNPA offering low storage rates, and getting more transhipment business out of it,” Watts told FTW. NOTE: The paper has been posted on the web at: http:// econ.worldbank.