'Pier 1 a complete and utter shambles'

The labour unrest at Durban’s Pier 1 container terminal has not been solved more than a week after Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) was forced to declare force majeure at Pier 1 – and container transport has ground to a halt. “It’s a complete and utter shambles,” said Kevin Martin, chairman of the Durban Harbour Carriers’ Association (DHCA), speaking to FTW last Friday afternoon. “Vehicles that went in at 09:00 hours yesterday (the Thursday) have still not come out.” As a result, the DHCA had called for members to pull their vehicles out of the gridlocked terminal, and to ask their client lines to get the problems sorted out with TPT before they return. Other truckers have also complained to FTW that this lack of performance at the terminal has been going on for a number of weeks. Things hit rock bottom in the middle of the month, and several truckers notified clients that they would not be sending their trucks to the terminal. The long-term delays meant trucks backing up three-abreast along the terminal entry road and truckers incurring huge losses. Adding fuel to the fire, Martin also noted that a large number of ships were now anchored in the roadstead off Durban – waiting for entry to the port. And, although he hoped that TPT might get things worked out over the long weekend, he warned that things could get a lot worse at both container terminals in Durban with the transport workers’ strike due to start this week, (September 25).