No relief in sight for congested DCT

A business model of
Transnet’s Durban Container
Terminal (DCT) has just been
forwarded to FTW, designed
to show how relatively
impressive performances at
the waterside and landside
ends of the business are
seriously constricted by a
narrow pipeline – illustrating
the time-consuming queues
of trucks that build up
waiting to get into the DCT
‘A check’.
Designed and built for
Kevin Martin, chairman of
the Durban Harbour Carriers’
Association (DHCA), it is the
complete opposite of a model
of the perfect logistics chain
– which is normally given as
a pipe of the same diameter,
allowing what flows in to go
out at the same flow rate.
“After many years of
bumping heads with various
DCT management teams,”
he told FTW, “I decided to
build the business model of
the logistics chain at DCT to
show everyone what they had
managed to achieve to date
for all the billions spent.
“Like DCT, I built my
model out of very expensive
materials – stainless steel
instead of plastic or mild
steel – to drive home the
point that throwing money at
a problem does not make it
any more workable.”
And the narrow pipe of
congestion at the terminal
is only going to get worse,
according to Martin.
“We find ourselves in the
unfortunate position that,
as from January 2012, for
a potential 72 months, we
will be losing a berth for
rail installation and berth
deepening on a rotating
basis,” he added.
“This means that 400 000
containers per year or
33 000 per month will be lost
in capacity to DCT.
“Yet no extra capacity has
been provided – not even at
Ngqura – in the years leading
up to now. Did they not
realise that with the harbour
mouth widening berths
would have to be deepened?
This is crisis management
taken past the extreme to the
ridiculous.”
Point and Maydon Wharf
are being looked at to assist.
“But,” questioned Martin,
“does Durban really need a
further 16 000 vehicles per
month to run into EACH
of these already congested
road facilities?”