... pending rail cost equalisation to Gauteng Terry Hutson PORTNET WILL divert ships to Port Elizabeth subject to rail cost equalisation to Gauteng to overcome ongoing delays and congestion at the Port of Durban. This is one of several radical steps announced last week following two months of extraordinarily high volumes that have resulted in delays to shipping and container deliveries. In July the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) handled the highest volume ever recorded in a single month - 112 500 TEUs, which exceeded by 5 400 TEUs the previous highest turnover set in October 2000. October is a more traditionally 'busy' month than July and this year's early rush has sounded the warning bells. At an urgent meeting held last week between the Container Liners' Forum, Portnet and Spoornet, the following proposals were agreed. l The diversion of smaller volume, self-geared ships to adjacent multi purpose berths in Durban. l The diversion of empty containers, destined for transhipment in Durban, to Port Elizabeth and Cape Town Container Terminals if the route of the pre-carrying and on-carrying vessels is similar. l The diversion of ships to Port Elizabeth subject to rail cost equalisation to Gauteng. Themba Gwala, Portnet general manager, containers with responsibility for DCT, has advised that different methods of container handling are to be applied. He told FTW that it would not be possible to discharge ships completely before commencing with the loading of export containers. ÒWe will be combining discharging and loading operations when working ships to minimise the number of containers actually in stack at any point in time. This type of operation requires all containers for export to be available in the vessel stack when the stack closes.Ó According to the shipping lines the problem relates also to productivity levels at the container terminals, which they say is manifested whenever high volumes occur at the DCT. Added to this are the unacceptable rates of equipment failure, in particular straddle carriers and gantry cranes at DCT. According to Gwala 35 new straddle carriers will only start arriving in the first quarter of 2002. He said that additional technicians had been seconded to the DCT workshops to ensure the availability of this equipment.
