Durban terminal attracts new bidder

Terry Hutson MANILA-BASED International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) has thrown its hat into the pool of those preparing to bid for the concessioning to operate the Durban Container Terminal. Captain Jan Mors, a director of ICTSI, revealed to FTW this week that his company was very definitely interested in the Durban terminal. "We've been waiting for the concessioning process to begin. Don't leave us out when mentioning who wants in," he said. ICTSI has been involved in the management, operation and development of container ports and terminals worldwide for the past 14 years. The group currently operates and manages the Manila International Container Terminal in the Philippines, the Dar es Salaam Container Terminal as well as an inland container terminal at the port, the container terminal at the port of Suepe in Brazil and several other terminals in the Philippines. The Dar es Salaam terminal was the first to be privatised in East Africa and currently has a throughput of 140 000 TEUs. Although the timing of the announcement on May 16 appears to have caught many players by surprise, terminal operators will be fine-tuning their presentations for invitation to bid. According to Minister Jeff Radebe this is likely to be in the third quarter, with the concession being awarded early in 2003. However, the announcement should not have come as such a surprise, considering that exactly one year ago Radebe told a gathering of the International Association of Ports & Harbours (IAPH), which holds its next conference in Durban next May, that the process would start "in January 2002". In fact this means that he is already four months late on his schedule! Other terminal operators known to be interested include SATI (Southern African Transport Investments Ð a division of the AP Moller Group), Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, US terminal specialist CSX World Terminals, which has covered its black empowerment requirements by tying up with Durban-based Dudula Shipping, and P&O Ports, which is already well entrenched in South African stevedoring operations.