Crippling strike may leave lines
with no other option
Terry Hutson
THE NATIONAL strike that crippled the ports for an effective seven days has been described as the worst to hit South Africa's ports for many years, with business leaders joining shipping lines in expressing grave concern, not only for the industry but the economy of the country as a whole.
Safmarine issued a statement warning that overseas buyers would hesitate to do business with South Africa if this country was deemed
to be an 'unreliable supplier', while an angry Captain Salvatore Sarno, MD of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), said that he felt betrayed by the port authorities.
"A month ago the Container Liners Operators Forum asked the shipping lines to withhold a congestion surcharge resulting from lengthy delays at the ports, caused by what was then being blamed on equipment failure."
He said the shipping lines had agreed, but the current situation now left them with little option.
Dr Jeya Wilson, CEO of Durban's Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said the country could ill afford a crisis of this magnitude and that Durban had borne the brunt of it.
With the cost of the strike running into hundreds of millions of rands for the shipping lines alone, and an incalculable amount from the knock-on costs to port users and cargo owners, MSC's Sarno said he feared there was little option left other than for the shipping lines to impose surcharges in the region of US$100 - $150 per container.
He accused the port authorities of knowing of the pending strike well in advance yet choosing not to react until it was too late.
He said this showed no respect for port users
who had to pay the price
of delays to ships and
valuable cargo.
"Port management
misjudged the mood of the strikers and mismanaged the situation, Their
mistakes will be paid for by the country for a long time to come. I think that Transnet should cut the salaries of SA Port Operations management for negligence to this industry. They have not done their jobs properly!"
In Durban an average of between 18 and 24 ships lay off port waiting for the end of the strike while other ships reportedly bypassed South Africa altogether. At the height of the strike a survey by FTW revealed some of the delays before ships could be berthed:
MSC Alice - 125 hours; MSC Camille - 108 hours; P&O Nedlloyd Pemba - 96 hours; SA Helderberg -
135 hours; Elisabeth Rickmers - 125 hours;
MSC Daniela - 121 hours.
