Portnet's Morwe promises 60 new straddle carriers

Terry Hutson
THE PORT Operations Division of Portnet intends ordering 60 new straddle carriers to help overcome continued delays at the Durban container terminal, delays that are costing the shipping industry hundreds of thousands of rand each week.
This was announced last week (Monday 1 October) by the chief executive of SA Port Operations, Tau Morwe. The Transnet Board met in Johannesburg last Friday (October 5) at which time he hoped they would give final approval for the much delayed purchase of the new equipment.
The new machines are intended as replacements for the existing fleet of 61 carriers that he described as dilapidated. He said that ultimately the number of carriers in use at the port would be increased to 97 and the present quayside gantry cranes from 13 to 20.
Morwe said that the situation in the port had improved since a plan of action aimed at alleviating the problem had been put into action. This included the use of trailers to move containers at berths 108 and 109 and the introduction of a 12-hour working period at the terminal. As a result ship delays had been reduced from a high of about 70 hours to an average of 17. He claimed that the number of container ships waiting outside had been drastically reduced. As a result of these improvements it had not been necessary to implement a proposal of diverting ships to Port Elizabeth.
The port is continuing to experience record volumes of containers and has shown a growth of almost 5% so far this year. During August 106 050 TEUs were handled, which is up more than 4 000 on August 2000. Morwe said that Portnet expected volumes to peak during October and November.