Gusting wind delays vessel for 97 hours

THE infamous Cape Doctor delivered an Oscarclass performance in Cape Town last week, considerably hampering container shipping operations. A fierce south easterly started picking up speed late on Thursday afternoon, so bad Cape Town container terminal operations had to be halted for 14 hours till 06:00 the following day. Affected was the MOL Cullinan, which arrived late from Durban for her berthing slot and had to be rescheduled by Transnet Port Terminals – the berthing delay amounted to 97 hours (wind stoppage included). At anchor, ahead of her schedule, was MSC Benedetta (up to 5 000 teu capacity), which was expected to be delayed, according to the terminal’s daily vessel report, for 38.25 hours, although this was described as incorrect by the carrier. Lukas Brian, responsible for Transnet’s waterside operations in the terminal, said at week’s end the wind was “pumping” at around 60km/h. Iain McIntosh, MOL’s marketing manager, out on a cycling interlude, said he was almost blown off his pedalling machine by the forces of nature.