Vessels calling at Durban Gateway Terminal (DGT) faced average anchorage times of 80 hours during July as congestion intensified at the Port of Durban towards the end of the month.
Average berthing time at DGT reached 106 hours, compared with 64 hours at Pier 1, while vessels calling at Pier 1 spent an average 65 hours at anchor, Southern African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) representative Nimi Ramchand said during the association's latest National Trade Facilitation Meeting.
DGT had started July strongly but performance deteriorated towards the end of the month, with estimated throughput falling 24% in the latter part of July, she said.
Actual DGT throughput data had not been available to SAAFF and its reporting on the terminal was therefore based on estimates.
Congestion was evident across the wider port by month-end, with 28 vessels at anchor on July 31 across the different commodities handled at Durban.
The high number of vessels at anchor placed pressure on marine operations as resources including tugs, pilots and crews had to be shared across different vessel and commodity types, Ramchand said.
Significant recovery was still required at DGT, although SAAFF hoped to see improvements at the terminal.
Pressure was also evident on the landside, where bottlenecks developed at terminal gates and on surrounding roads. Truck turnaround and staging performance at Pier 1 also deteriorated towards the end of July.
