Inconsistency threatens PE’s reefer growth

Given the good port
infrastructure available
at Port Elizabeth, port
inefficiency is not only
a frustration to users but
in the long term could
threaten the provincial
economy by prompting
discouraged PE port users
to switch to Cape Town.
“The port, the shipping
lines, the cold storage
companies, we all have to
read from the same page.
We absolutely rely on the
efficiency of the port, and
the port relies on everyone
else’s efficiency. We must
fight not to have the fruit
that now moves out of PE
sent to Cape Town. Cape
Town offers competitive
rates when you factor in
the waits at PE,” said Len
Cowley, assistant manager
of cold storage at PE Cold
Storage.
An admitted booster
of Port Elizabeth’s port
infrastructure, Cowley
says, is Ngqura port.
“In my lifetime and my
children’s lifetimes I don’t
think we’ll ever see another
man-made port built from
scratch.” While he is proud
of this achievement, he is
critical of the shortcomings
that are hobbling PE port
operations.
“Right now (July)
we are slap bang in the
middle of the citrus
export year. The crop is
fine but the weather at
PE harbour is a problem.
Everything gets blamed on
the weather, but I feel it’s
not always the reason,” he
says.
A shortage of reefer plugin
points is one problem.
“Today again there is
nothing available. So our
customers’ shipments are
kept here in cold storage.
That causes bottlenecks.
I’m not a control freak but
I hate it when things are
completely out of control.
We are able to handle 100
containers a day, but with
all the restrictions it could
be seven on one day and
150 the next day. There’s no
consistency. I can handle
anything but inefficiency.
In my ten years on this job
this has been the worst in
terms of logistics,” Cowley
said.
He quickly adds, “Every
year at peak time I ask
myself ‘Why?’ But once
this business gets into
your blood you can’t get
it out – everything else
seems to move in slow
motion.”