Dear Editor,
As a claims adjuster of an insurance company (marine department), I read your publication on a regular basis with interest.
I am appalled at the loss overboard of 12 containers from the vessel Nuria while no less than 21 container ships were lined up outside awaiting an available berth, all because the local work force could not get their own way.
This loss could and should have been averted. The unseen ripple effect of this stupid action is now costing many thousands of rands.
One possible solution, not necessarily to this immediate problem, but to over-usage of Durban harbour, is for the government (who control railage) to offer the same price (not rates) for containers railed to the Reef from any of our ports ex containers vessels. This would spread the load/work force, creating jobs and better utilisation of under-utilised ports, provided of course the railways can match the times from Durban.
Please note this fax is not being sent in the name of the insurance company but rather from a concerned citizen.
Malcolm Patterson, Johannesburg.
