Final dig-out port design imminent

The final design for the R100- billion dig-out port will be selected within the next few months, Transnet project manager Marc Descoins told FTW in an exclusive interview last week. It will then be ready for its environmental impact assessment (EIA) submission by the end of this year, and Transnet hopes to open the first phase by 2023, Descoins said. The reasoning behind the actual need for a new port, he added, was that capacity at the current Port of Durban was coming under ever-increasing pressure as demand grew. But Descoins revealed that Durban was never automatically the first choice to be the site for the new port. “We looked at Port Durnford (south of Richards Bay), Richards Bay itself, Durban and Coega,” he said. “But Durban came up trumps in every way. “We then had to look at the two alternatives of Bayhead (at the southern end of the old port) or the completely new dig-out port on the site of the old Durban International Airport. The thinking was that there had been a quantum jump in the type of port facilities needed. So, again, the dig-out finally proved to be the best option.” Transnet’s thinking is now two-pronged, he added. It was decided that they had to investigate working in parallel on Salisbury Island – where the SA Navy has agreed to release the land Transnet wants – for extra capacity in the present port, and on the dig-out port. “With growing demand, we have to add capacity in any event,” said Descoins. “So Salisbury Island has become more urgent. We’re pushing for the earliest date we can bring capacity on-stream.” FTW asked him why the date of 2023 was now being estimated for the port starting operations instead of the 2018 that had originally been released to the press. “2018/19 is when the capacity at the present port will be exceeded – if we do nothing about it,” said Descoins. “In our previous presentation we said we were targeting opening in 2020. “But the planning time is focused on a combination of demand and capacity planning. The movement of the singlebuoy mooring (SBM) – which, in its present location would be blocking the proposed port entry channel – is more complex than previously thought. And this added time to the dig-out development. “But 2023 is achievable.” A number of authoritative port users had told FTW that – because the road transport vehicles had to haul right through the Durban central business district (CBD) – it made more sense for the automotive and ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off) terminals to be the first facility in the new port, not the container terminal. So we put this proposal to Descoins. “It’s primarily a container port,” he said. “So Phase 1 will, in all likelihood, be containers. “But we also have automotive capacity on the final plan. However, we need to again make sure what will happen to capacity in the present port before we decide when it comes on stream in the dig-out port.” INSERT & CAPTION Phase 1 will, in all likelihood, be containers. – Marc Descoins