Industry insiders believe that the rich seafreight volumes at the height of the peak season, added to the current backlog left by the threeweek Transnet strike, could combine to bring congestion to a head again, says Dave Watts, maritime adviser to the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff). And there is nobody denying that the port – SA’s biggest seacargo hub – is still clogged up and that the shipping lines may have been a bit pre-emptive in dropping their congestion surcharges. Forwarders and cargo owners wouldn’t welcome the re-imposition, but ships are still suffering from berthing delays, and lines are not happy about the vessels waiting anchored outside the port. Peter Besnard, senior vice-president of Evergreen Agency, told FTW that their ships – which have a preferential berthing agreement – still face an average delay of 24 hours. He suggested that the scene inside the port saw Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) playing a juggler’s role. “The quays are all jammed up,” he said, “and alternative quays are being used to shift other ships to.” And truckers are certainly still complaining about standing in queues for hours. In the past couple of weeks we’ve heard all sorts of loud moans about average turnaround delays for trucks waiting to deliver/collect containers at the terminals. The latest count came from Kevin Martin, MD of Freightliner and current chairman of the Durban Harbour Carriers’ Association. He said: “Under normal conditions each of our trucks would run 7-8 trips per shift. Now, it’s two or three if I’m lucky.” He also added that recent wind delays had brought the ship-to-shore cranes working the ships to a stop, and Pier 1 and DCT shutting shop. Earle Peters, TPT executive whom FTW was led to understand was leading the post-strike recovery, agreed that wind delays had added to their problems in recent times.
