Durban harbour to shut on November 27

First of three scheduled closures ALAN PEAT THE CLOSURE of the Durban harbour entrance for geotechnical drilling prior to the widening and deepening programme is now scheduled for late November/early December. This after the drilling – originally planned for three October weekends – was postponed because of the pre-Christmas port congestion in Durban. According to National Ports Authority (NPA) chief harbour master, Captain Mike Brophy, time lines on the drilling programme are fairly tight and therefore the channel closures will take place on three two-day periods – November 27-28; December 1-2; and December 5-6. “The times have been set from 17h00 to 07h00 on two occasions,” he told FTW, “and 17h00 to 09h00 on one occasion – times which will only be finalised on the date of the drilling. “Should the drilling have to be postponed from the scheduled dates for any reason, we will need to work on a day-by-day basis from there on.” The widening/deepening project is still scheduled to get under way next year.