24 teus per hour in next
12 to 18 months, says Nomvete
THE PORT of Durban has set in motion a 'Container Productivity Programme' to address low productivity at the Durban container terminal.
That's the word from port manager Bax Nomvete who told FTW in an exclusive interview last week that the programme was Portnet's response to complaints that average teu moves at the Durban terminal (17,5 per hour) were much lower than world terminal norms. Industry expectations are in the 24 teus per hour range.
The news comes in the wake of fresh log-jams in the port over the Workers' Day long weekend, with delays of up to 81 hours reported by one shipping line.
There are a heap of factors influencing what happens at the terminal and it's unfair and even dangerous to benchmark one port against another, says Nomvete. Yes, we do have a productivity issue, but it's not simply a question of throwing money or additional infrastructure at the problem. We believe we have enough equity in place, especially with another two gantry cranes on their way (due next month). It's now a question of everyone having to work smarter.
Nomvete revealed that last month's 2-day strike by terminal equipment operators was a result of Portnet implementing some of its new plans.
The strike was about improving working man-hours on the cranes and straddle carriers, he said. But it was settled amicably and staff have accepted our proposals. This will result in a 30% improvement in time worked at the berths.
It's not merely a question of adding extra cranes per vessel to speed up operations, as some have suggested. To do that we would require certain standards regarding the types of vessels using the terminal, such as being fully cellular and above a minimum size.
According to Nomvete proper service level agreements between Portnet and clients must be put in place. These agreements, he says, will require much more accurate information to be made available, with penalties applying equally to both parties where necessary.
We are currently discussing service level agreements with clients, and a trial period of between six and nine months is likely to commence within a few months. These will require both ourselves and our clients to agree on norms, especially regarding container ETA and ETD information.
Nomvete says that stack and straddle carrier utilisation could improve by as much as 25% and 50% respectively once Portnet's COSMOS EDI system is in place and running. This will hopefully be by mid-year, he said.
COSMOS is going to provide significant dividends for us all. We can improve systems without it but it will really make the difference. We have the equity in place, we're busy training people to work smarter. We hope to achieve that 'magical' 24 teus per hour within 12 to 18 months.
BY TERRY HUTSON
