The Port of Durban’s rollon,
roll-off (ro-ro) terminal
at the Point and the Maydon
Wharf terminal – being
used as alternatives to the
temporarily disabled berth
at the Pier 2 terminal – are
fast being rigged out with
new mobile cranes and a new
fleet of haulers.
Zeph Ndlovu, Transnet
Port Terminals (TPT)
executive manager for
the two terminals, said:
“This equipment facilitates
quicker turnaround times
of ships and thus reduces
logistics costs for our valued
customers and for the
industry.”
But terminal users are not
confident that this is the case.
Speaking on behalf of
the members of the TPT/
Transporters’ Forum,
Carl Webb, MD of Project
Logistics Management, told
FTW that equipment was
not the problem. “It’s not
a matter of how well the
equipment runs, it is how
well the equipment is run,”
he said. The inefficiency at
the ro-ro terminal – where it
should take about an hour to
load a truck, but was actually
taking up to half a day – was
more due to mismanagement
than lack of equipment, he
added.
Indeed, a whole meeting
of the forum on Wednesday
(October 31) was held to raise
all the problems at the Point
highlighted by the port users.
“It’s a battle we’ve
been fighting for some
considerable time,” said
Webb, “but we are still
no closer to achieving a
solution.”
However Ndlovu insisted
that the haulers were
replacing old equipment
in the ro-ro terminal and
would result in increased
productivity and more
efficient operation. He
suggested that the equipment
would also enable faster and
safer transportation of cargo
and improve safety on the
quayside and on the ro-ro
ramp.
The 27 FR230 (4x2)
and FR270 (4x4) haulers
that arrived during August
to October are part of a
fleet of 33 ordered from
manufacturer, CVS Ferrari
in Italy, and valued at R52
million. The last batch of six
haulers is scheduled to arrive
later this month.
The equipment is primarily
used for hauling cargo, both
on the landside and on ro-ro
vessels. Twenty five of the
haulers are used in ro-ro
operations and eight in the
breakbulk and agri-bulk
operations.
The haulers work alongside
four new Liebherr LHM550C
mobile harbour cranes that
the terminal acquired earlier
this year, with two more
scheduled to arrive, one
this month and the other in
February 2013.
The mobile cranes have a
lifting capacity of 144 tons,
a standard load operation
of 77 t and a spreader load
operation of 63 t – and enable
TPT to handle 18 container
rows across deck through a
54-metre boom.
This is all part of a
R438-m programme to boost
container handling capacity
at the ro-ro and Maydon
Wharf Terminals – which
have mainly handled breakbulk
and ro-ro cargo up to
now.
CAPTION
Zeph Ndlovu … ‘New equipment
will increase productivity.’
