Environmental study keeps CT port expansion in check

Earliest start would be end of year RAY SMUTS THE EXTENSION of the Cape Town container terminal remains a “very dicey, very difficult” issue, according to National Ports Authority CEO, Khomotso Phihlela, who says Transnet is doing all the minister of environmental affairs Marthinus van Schalkwyk requested. Van Schalkwyk has asked Transnet to carry out further studies pertaining to the possibility of a container facility inland, the question of beach erosion were the terminal project to go ahead, and the deepening of the terminal’s draught to accommodate bigger ships. Sanjay Govan, NPA port manager for Cape Town, told FTW that consultants commissioned by Transnet had completed the inland study while those on beach erosion and berth deepening should be final by the end of February and around June. Thereafter, the minister has 60 days to come up with a ruling, which means that if the project involving a 300-metre quayside extension were to go ahead, it would not be much before the end of the year. “We can’t wait. The lines want these larger ships (of some 5 000 TEUs) to start calling in June already so we are looking at some short-term capital bridging to make that possible. “Cape Town being the first and last port of call for many ships, they are going to come fully laden so they need that extra draught.” Meantime, the NPA is looking at ways of accommodating the expected increase in containers, such as flattening structures within the terminal and negotiating with SACD to move its entire operation over to the port industrial site (old power station location) at nearby Paarden Eiland. Other options under scrutiny are inland stacking facilities, Govan holding the personal view that both terminal and inland extension are necessary for long-term growth. In the event of the terminal extension ruling going against the development, Govan says reconfiguring the port will have to be looked at in order to accommodate the rise in containers, as well as new methods of stacking. “If the minister says yes, we will probably start within three months.” With a building boom under way and frantic preparations to upgrade stadia and other infrastructure for the 2010 soccer World Cup, building costs are reported to be on the up and up. But Govan still expects the cost of the extension to be around the R4.5 billion or R5 billion mark, about double the original costing. “Whatever the final amount, the terminal project is key to the economy of the Western Cape so we will have to fund it.”