Durban logjam far from over

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.