Rice races into record books

Terry Hutson WHEN THE SAFMUR bulk vessel Alio arrived in Durban last week, the 42 972-dwt bulker brought the largest ever shipment of rice to be discharged at the port - 38 133 tonnes. Rice ships at M Shed are a familiar all year round sight at the port although until recently individual shipments remained fairly small, in the order of 10 000 - 15 000mt. Then they increased to more than 20 000mt, but this week’s is the whopper of all time. The cargo has been imported by a consortium of rice merchants in Durban and further afield. Durban’s M Shed has a total capacity of 18 000 tonnes plus some additional storage in the adjacent L Shed, which was previously used for fruit but has become available because of work on the new Point quay wall between berths D to G. To avoid congestion on the quayside the rice will usually be moved away by road hauliers almost as fast as it is discharged. Phil Simpson, MD of ship’s agents Global Portside Services (BV), told FTW the Alio had loaded the rice in SE Asia and was expected to make several more sailings in the future. Team work - standing alongside a slingload of rice from the Alio are (from left) Keith Perumal, Sapo’s M Shed manager, Phil Simpson, MD of Global Portside Services (BV), Oriel Newman of Sapo, Earl Caswell of Global Portside Services (BV), and Patrick Dlamini, Sapo’s acting business unit manager for City and Multi Purpose Terminals.