New cranes make their appearance

TERRY HUTSON THREE NEW post panamax container cranes for the Durban Container Terminal have made their appearance near the terminal as the multi million rand project nears finality. The three cranes, being manufactured in South Africa by Argentine-based IMPSA and involving local sub-contractors, are being assembled on a site adjacent to berth 205 at DCT. This will facilitate their final delivery into the terminal by mid-year. According to Hamilton Nxumalo, GM of Equipment Engineering & Asset Management with Sapo, a programme involving the refurbishment of the fleet of older cranes means that DCT will continue to be under strength for some time, but productivity should nevertheless continue to improve as the new IMPSA machines are eased into service, probably by mid-year. They are capable of matching the three Liebherr super post-panamax cranes imported from Italy last year, which are said to be capable of up to 45 container moves an hour. Meanwhile, finance minister Trevor Manuel announced last week that final approval had been given for a new R1.4bn container terminal on Pier 1, adjacent to DCT. The project will provide additional capacity for almost 600000 TEUs and there are strong indications that Pier 1 will be offered for private concessioning, with Sapo continuing to manage and operate DCT. In 2004 DCT handled a total of 1.548m TEUs with a further 150 000 TEUs being handled elsewhere in the port, bringing the total to 1.7million.