New Durban cranes speed up productivity

The seven new tandem shipto- shore cranes (SSCs) at the Port of Durban are already pushing up vessel handling productivity. But industry commentators believe that Transnet Port Terminals is failing to make best use of the capability of these new units – notably on the loading of vessels. According to Glenn Delve, marketing director of shipping line MSC – by far the largest user of the Durban container terminal (DCT) facilities on Pier 2 – the tandem discharge on each crane is 35 moves per hour (mph) “But that’s not the case on loading, because the terminal can’t feed containers to the cranes quickly enough.” However, he says that when four of the new cranes are working a ship they will probably save a day on vessel turnaround timing – a healthy saving of approximately US$120 000 per vessel. Sumeet Bhardwaj, operations manager of MOL, told FTW that his line had already had two vessels alongside the DCT berth with the cranes – and they were beginning to show their promise. “However,” he added, “it’s too early for them to be truly judged on their full productivity potential because the drivers are still being trained and the cranes still run in safe mode.” But Bhardwaj is confident that each of the new cranes is already capable of at least 28-30 moves per hour. “They’re a good investment,” he said. “And, provided TPT trains its staff properly, they should prove a benefit to the line operators.” His records reveal that the cranes are already running seven moves per hour faster than the old rigs, and – with two cranes per ship – the capability is about 70mph across the vessel. CAPTION The ship-to-shore cranes arrived late last year ... but the terminal can’t feed containers to the cranes quickly enough.