MPT congestion leads to 30-hour delays

Chaos erupted at the Durban
Port multi purpose terminal
(MPT) last week when
congestion saw transporters
waiting up to 30 hours to
deliver export containers to
the terminal.
According to Carl
Webb of Project Logistics
Management, only two reach
stackers were operating
landside while three vessels
were being serviced waterside.
“Export containers were
piling up awaiting delivery
into stacks, and import
containers were being
abandoned at the terminal as
we could not get bookings to
load them,” he told FTW.
He said frantic calls to
the terminal manager led
to promises that outsourced
machines would be used to
ease the congestion at Point
Terminal by no later than
Tuesday – but by Friday
there was no change to the
situation. Drivers were still
waiting in queues for up to 30
hours at a time.
Sue Moodley, chair of
the Harbour Carriers’
Association, told FTW the
situation was a right mess.
“Since Monday we had been
informed that they would
be implementing their
contingency plan. The fact is
they don’t have a contingency
plan otherwise it would have
been executed by now. They
did not have a forecasting
model and continued to
accept vessels with no
equipment landside to handle
the volume.”
She said at least five vessels
had been handled waterside
while the congestion had
increased landside.
“What is the message to the
transporter and the importer?
They simply only care about
servicing the shipping lines
and no one else. Their attitude
towards the rest of the
logistics industry is offensive.”
Kevin Martin of
Freightliner agreed with
Moodley saying this
particular issue had been
on the table for more than
a year with no solutions
forthcoming.
“And when they can least
handle it they just berth more
vessels at Point Terminal.
Five, six vessels were handled
waterside and they have two
stackers landside?”
He said the situation was
completely absurd. “The more
under pressure the Durban
Container Terminal gets,
the more vessels they push
to Point Terminal that has
even less capacity to deal with
them.”
In a letter to customers last
week Transnet Port Terminals
acknowledged that Point
Terminal was experiencing
high container traffic volumes.
This, it said, was as a
result of the high number
of containers on the ground
as well as the high number
of export containers being
received for vessels with stack
open.
“Furthermore, the
terminal has had equipment
challenges. The terminal has
activated contingency plans
of outsourcing equipment
to assist with easing the
congestion on the landside,”
reads the letter.
When this issue went to
press on Monday morning,
TPT had not yet responded to
requests for comment.