Plans to position the port
of Port Elizabeth as a major
vehicle hub have now been
delayed to 2021.
The development of a
modern vehicle transit
terminal is dependent on the
moving of a manganese ore
terminal and fuel dump to
the port of Ngqura.
According to Port of Port
Elizabeth Transnet Port
manager Rajesh Dana, the ore
terminal will now be moved in
2019 – a year behind the latest
schedule in a project that
dates back to 2012.
It will take two years to
rehabilitate the land to make
it suitable for alternative uses.
The terminal, which is
more than 30 years old, has a
maximum capacity of
5.5 million tons a year
and there is no space for
expansion.
There is also pressure on
the Transnet National Ports
Authority from the local
business chamber to free up
land for a waterfront.
The new manganese
terminal in the port of
Ngqura will be able to handle
eight million tons a year,
which can be expanded to
22 million tons.
In addition, the port
of Port Elizabeth will be
undergoing a SMART
facelift.
According to Dana this
will embrace smart energy,
smart logistics, smart
processes, smart environment
and smart management.
This Smart Port will
be managed by a joint
operations centre that
will “proactively provide
integrated near real-time
information to drive
decisions which will lead to
a more efficient and reliable
transport logistic solution for
South Africa,” he says.
CAPTION
The Port Elizabeth manganese terminal.
