PE rail rate equalised with Durban amid scheduling chaos

The storm that hit the Port
of Durban causing major
damage to equipment has
had a ripple effect on most of
the ports in the country.
According to Mike
Walwyn, chairman of the
Port Liaison Forum (PLF),
an initiative of the Cape
Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, the Port of Durban
was congested even before
the storm hit.
“It has played havoc with
scheduling and there is
real uncertainty over when
vessels will berth at which
ports in the country,” he told
FTW. “Berth availability is
going to be a problem for
some time.”
It is believed that four ship
to shore cranes remain out
of service in Durban where
eight of these cranes were
damaged by the storm, while
one RTG is still submerged
in water and cannot be used.
Damages in and around
Durban have been estimated
around R500 million but it is
still early days and the figure
is expected to increase.
“The storm has caused
a massive backlog for
operations out of Durban,
but it has had a knock-on
effect on every port, possibly
the Eastern Cape ports more
so than Cape Town,” said
Walwyn.
He said in an effort to deal
with the higher volumes the
rail rate in Port Elizabeth
had been equalised with that
of Durban.
“The capacity of the
Eastern Cape ports is
questionable with Ngqura
having a similar annual
capacity to Cape Town. It
is not really big enough to
take on that much volume,”
he said.
In an attempt to assist
exporters, the PLF had
called on the Cape Town
port to extend stack times
to bring in more flexibility
in light of the uncertainty
around schedules created by
the situation in Durban, said
Walwyn.
In a statement last week
Transnet National Ports
Authority (TNPA) said it was
in ongoing negotiations with
the South African Maritime
Safety Authority (Samsa) to
contain and minimise the
impact of the storm.
During the natural
disaster the refloating and
remooring of five drifting
vessels, three of which had
grounded in the port, was
the priority. Two damaged
shipping containers that had
fallen into the water also had
to be retrieved as soon as
possible.
According to TNPA
all containers that were
reported missing have been
accounted for.
“The Port Authority’s
ongoing clean-up operations
within port limits have also
been targeting significant
inflow of waste which
was discharged into the
port from the Umbilo,
Amanzimnyama and
Umhlatuzana Rivers, as well
as the municipal stormwater
system,” according to a
statement.