Ngqura expansion back on track

With the 74-metre motor
hopper dredger Jin Hang Bo
having been refloated in the
port of Ngqura, Transnet says
it is back on track to have the
dredging of the remaining
two container quays in the
port completed by June.
A Transnet National Ports
Authority spokesperson told
FTW that a new dredger
would arrive in March,
together with additional
barges to take the sand out to
sea where it is dumped.
There will then be a total
of five barges working on the
project.
Transnet has also
responded to calls by the
shipping lines to increase
capacity in the port of Ngqura
by adding two Liebherr Post
Panamax gantries to the fleet
of six Megamax cranes that
have been working in the port
since it opened in June 2009.
The R150-million
Liebherr cranes are due to be
operational by April.
FTW understands
that they were originally
bound for Cape Town,
but were reallocated after
representations by shipping
lines to the Minister and
Brian Molefe.
Industry talk is that
Transnet Port Terminals is
wary about continuing to
invest in Ngqura as it only
has a three-year operating
licence.
There is no clarity as
to what would happen to
the top infrastructure if
another operator were to be
appointed.
Shipping sources, who
preferred not to be identified,
welcomed the additional
gantries, but said that
Transnet needed to ensure
that it had sufficient staff –
only five of the six existing
cranes work at any one time
due to a lack of operators.
There is also a need for
supporting equipment, such
as rubber-tyred gantries.
Ngqura Container Terminal
chief engineer Tony Lottering
is heading up the team
of local and international
engineers assembling the new
units.
Two additional gangs
consisting of 78 employees
are currently undergoing
training on the new cranes,
according to Siya Mhlaluka,
Terminal Executive Manager,
Eastern Cape Terminals.
He says the Liebherr cranes
have a twin reach capability
of over 19 containers.
This makes them slightly
smaller than the 110m-high
Megamax ship to shore (STS)
cranes, which are able to
service vessels with up to
22 containers stacked across
their width.
The new gantries were
discharged as completely
knocked down units by the
HHL Hamburg.
More gantries will,
however, be needed when all
four berths in the first phase
of the Ngqura container
terminal come into operation
later this year.
According to Mhlaluka,
the new cranes will raise
productivity levels in the
port of Ngqura, which
recorded a high of 34 crane
moves per hour (GCH) in
December 2011.