Navis 'patch-up' appears to be working

Is Navis now fixed? That’s a question that everyone in the seafreight industry hopes is a YES in capital letters. This after frequent crashes of the Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) Navis port management system in Durban in May led to a number of loud complaints to FTW from port users about the delays in container movement they had been experiencing. One was from Krish Maharaj, MD of Freight 24, who told FTW that everything was badly fouled up during May. This culminated in a massive snarl-up on the only entry road to the port just before the end of the month – with a queue of trucks snaking down Bayhead Road like a giant, multi-axle anaconda. This, he added, was caused by another of that month’s frequent Navis crashes. However, it’s not always a Navis problem. The Pier 1 container terminal can be described as a regularly erratic performer, with smoothrunning spells interspersed with sheer chaos in container movement, according to users of the terminal. When, last September, there were monumental congestion delays over a two-week period, Durban Harbour Carriers’ Association (DHCA) chairman, Kevin Martin, told FTW: “It’s really a case of too little space for too much volume coming in.” On the Navis problem, we were led to believe that these computer glitches were exacerbated when TPT was attempting a world-first in adjusting Navis to link all the major port terminals around the country. And added to that, it was trying to find a way to include Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) operations under the system, and also to make a major upgrade for Navis to accommodate the new tandem-lift cranes at the Port of Durban on the May 1 holiday. So bad was the combined fault that it proved beyond TPT’s cyber-expertise, and led to the terminal IT management getting all sorts of experts out from Navis to try to resolve the problems. But, while reports immediately after the repair was completed indicated that it seemed to have worked, there is no guarantee that the problems are finally over. Maharaj’s latest report was that the Navis patch-up seemed to have worked. “But also,” he said, “port volumes are down. So we have to wait until things pick up again to see if this holds up.” It seemed to have been working OK for about the last 10 days, according to Glenn Delve, director of MSC, whose ship berthing had been thrown into chaos by the bad days of May. “I suppose we’ve just got to cross our fingers and hope that it keeps going.” Another executive from a liner agency told FTW that his operational people had also reported that the last week had been fine. “But a week’s not very long,” he added. “We just have to pray that it will continue.” INSERT ‘Fingers crossed that chaos doesn’t return’ CAPTION This photo of Bayhead Road was taken by Krish Maharaj of Freight 24 at the height of the chaos.