Durban’s quayside productivity gets mild applause

The port productivity at Durban is as good as you think it is. Shipping lines are content – to a point. Road truckers are absolutely angered. The SA Association of Ship Operators and Agents (Saasoa) is not too unhappy, looking at the Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) figures that are available. The port, for example, handled 2.5-million TEUs in 2010, compared to 2.3-m in 2009. And they handled them somewhat faster at the quayside. According to the TPT figures, said Saasoa, from May last year until now the ship-to-shore cranes at the Pier 1 terminal have averaged 23 moves per hour. “There has therefore been a bit of an improvement since last year,” FTW was told. At the Durban container terminal (DCT) the cranes have averaged 21.1 moves per hour. A shipping line executive agreed with the statement about improvement in crane moves. “At the moment,” he said, “we are averaging between 23 and 25 container moves per hour. While it could be better, we’re ahead of the pack.” However, the executive was extremely unhappy about road congestion on the access to Pier 1 and DCT. With the road works at their present stage, he said, the access road to Pier 1 is only two-lane, and is full of trucks going in and out of DCT. “We are also forever getting complaints from our truckers that they can’t get into DCT because of sidetippers – moving goods to and from the Island View bulk terminals – parked on, and blocking the road.” In his summary, the line executive told FTW that in meetings with port management it had been said that productivity had increased. “It’s not where everyone wants it to be,” he added, “but it has increased.” But that’s on the quayside. Truckers running to and from the terminals are not seeing an increase in productivity. They obviously agreed with the line executive’s complaint about road congestion. It has been a major gripe for some years, and – although the only access road is being widened to dual carriageway each way – it has obviously not got to the stage yet of showing any sign of improvement. The productivity inside the terminals is also still under question. “It’s nowhere as productive as it could, and should, be,” said Kevin Martin, MD of Freightliner Transport and chairman of the Durban Harbour Carriers’ Association (DHCA). “It’s bad enough in local terms, but it’s pathetic when compared with the worldwide figures.”