Durban port needs to get its Navis act together - SDV

SDV has expanded its facilities in Durban to cater for the growing volume of transit cargo into southern Africa. According to Russell Swanepoel, SDV branch manager in Durban, while 2013 has been challenging so far, there has been an increase in cargo volumes with a definite increase in demand for bonded warehousing – necessitating the need to increase capacity. This is good news for SDV in the future, he said, especially considering that forecasts indicate volumes are expected to continue rising in the light of increased commercial efforts. But if the Port of Durban wants to reap the benefits of a continued increase in cargo volumes, it is going to have to address some crucial issues sooner rather than later, said Swanepoel. “One of the biggest challenges we face that is really affecting our operations is the constant problems with Navis on containerised traffic which contributes to huge queues to deliver and or uplift containers to and from the port,” he told FTW. “The congestion issues contribute to loss of revenue for the transport companies as they are doing only one load in the same time they could have done two.” Reduced turnaround times in the long run impact negatively on these companies and in worst case scenarios can even lead to businesses having to close down. “At the same time vessels are often delayed in and out of the Port which impacts on the lead times for delivery which in turn affects many industries – like the manufacturing sectors for example,” he said. CAPTION Volumes are growing for now … but port authorities must address escalating costs and deteriorating service delivery.