Heavy lift breakdowns leave shipper high and dry

Alan Peat
THE PORT of Durban has been left without a heavy lift. Both the floating crane and its landside alternative are both out of commission for a month.
This was the unhappy news conveyed to FTW by a ship's agent with an incoming consignment of heavy equipment.
"We went to book the floating crane, but no sooner had we booked, than we were told that it was out of order until May 21."
Alright, said our agent to himself, the crane is out of order, so let's make use of "Godzilla" - the mobile shore crane.
But again he was told: "No go." The shore crane had a broken cable, he was informed, one that had to be imported, and it was also out of commission for about a month.
"Here we are, the biggest harbour south of the equator and it's completely out of heavy lift gear," he said.
Adding insult to the injury, our agent was told that the port authorities had made no contingency plans. "It was a case of "tough luck" so we had to go out and engage a private contractor to bring a mobile crane alongside," he told FTW.
Portnet's Durban management was able to confirm the non-availability of the floating crane but no word was heard on "Godzilla" before FTW went to print.
However, we were told, they would have made a plan if they'd known - "Put a couple of gantries together, or something."
But that, apparently, would have supplied a maximum lift well below the 50-tons plus of our agent's equipment and still meant Durban is without a heavy lift facility for the next month.
Abnormal cargo handlers in Durban are also unhappy about the new tariff for the floating crane.
It was previously charged at R4 362 per hour per vessel with a minimum of two hours. But now, said the FTW complainants, they are being charged a flat fee of R5 500 plus an increased tariff rate of R5 452/hr/vessel (+25% over the old rate).
The only justification for Portnet's heavy-handed tariff hike, say the FTW commentators, is that the crane is known to be running at quite a loss.
But slapping on whopping 25% increases at this stage of the crane's working life to try to get some return on the investment is "closing the stable door after the horse has bolted", they said.