Port and shippers meet over Richards Bay impasse Alan Peat THE LATEST meeting between bulk shipping operators and port management at Richards Bay was intended to create co-operation not confrontation, said Tim McClure, MD of Island View Shipping. The problem at the multi-purpose terminal (MPT) at the port remains the same, he added. Productivity (both human and mechanical) has remained as it has been for the past three years, while the throughput at the terminal has doubled. The most immediate answer, according to McClure, is for the private sector and the port authorities to work together. “The matter is serious, but we’re working closely with both the shippers and the port authorities to improve the efficiency.” The most recent example of this is the ten new, desperately needed, haulers that have been leased by Richards Bay MPT. These were bought from Bell Equipment by IVS and leased to the port because it just has no capex, according to McClure. “These haulers are the beginning of the refurbishment of the resources,” he said, “in the hope that this might lead to improvements in productivity at the terminal.”
