MSC tries priority berthing to ward off surcharge

THE SUCCESS of the priority berthing scheme introduced at the Port of Durban will decide the imposition or otherwise of a port congestion surcharge by shipping major Mediterranean Shipping Company. That was the message from MSC chairman in South Africa, Captain Salvatore Sarno, who told guests at the line's annual customer function in Johannesburg last week that so far the system was working well apart from problems caused by the recent Cosatu strike. "With volumes continuing to rise, there are often 20 vessels waiting outside the port, ten of which belong to MSC," he said. "If the berthing priority system does not work, shippers must prepare for a surcharge because the lines are losing huge amounts of money." By way of an example, the MSC Theresa was recently delayed outside the port for 10 days, he said.