Ro-ro terminal boycott avoided thanks to TPT listening to port users

A proposed boycott of the
ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off)
terminal at the Port of Durban
has been avoided thanks
to Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT) listening to port users
and implementing a measure
recommended by the users to
overcome a crippling problem
at the terminal, according to
Carl Webb, MD of Project
Logistics Management (PLM)
and representative of the
terminal users (see page 1).
The ro-ro terminal is the
landing berth for project cargo
and large equipment like road
graders and outsize bulldozers,
and in recent months has been
failing to meet the transport
schedules laid down for the
uplift of these cargoes.
So bad did it become that
road transporters, many of
them allocating abnormal
vehicles to meet the transport
needs, began to pull their
vehicles out of the terminal,
rather than waiting for some
activity from TPT. And this
despite a booking system that
named a strict date and time
for each uplift.
Barry Wilson, projects
specialist at Bidvest Panalpina,
told FTW about information
fed to his company by
Reyaya (Hitachi’s nominated
transporter), which highlighted
the trucker’s problems with
these delays in loading project
cargo from the terminal at the
Point.
“Quite obviously,” he said,
“there are some serious issues
in the planning and loading
of project cargoes ex Point
terminal which need urgent
attention. Whilst we appreciate
that the terminal is congested,
when transporters are making
the effort to try to uplift cargo,
the terminal appears unable
to meet the requirements of
transporters.”
E-mails forwarded to FTW
from both Reyaya and PLM
said that users were finding it
increasingly difficult to secure
transporters who were willing
to provide trucks for loading
ex Point due to the excessive
delays they were encountering.
PLM’s Webb added: “We
have attempted to address the
issue on numerous occasions,
providing a number of
proposals which would assist
TPT in complying with their
mandate, but to no avail.
“We have now requested an
urgent plan of remedial action
by TPT to rectify the situation,
failing which we will have
no option but to escalate the
matter further. A number of
options have been proposed
in this regard, one of which is
a boycott of the MPT facility
until such time as the matter is
resolved.”
However, Shamina
Krishnaswamy, key account
manager of the Durban ro-ro
terminal, at least brought
some light to the issue
on behalf of TPT. “With
the terminal operations
and planning department,
alternatives are presently been
explored internally in terms
of the suggested changes for
implementation,” she said
– also promising that TPT’s
decision would be announced
at the meeting with the
Transporters Forum members
last Thursday (February 9).
And so it was, with TPT
accepting the port users’
recommendation that an open
booking system would be
adopted.
“At long last,” Webb told
FTW after the meeting with
TPT, “we had very positive
communication with them.
They are even beginning to
recognise that the shipping
lines are not their clients, but
that it is the cargo owner who
pays for everything – the
shipping rates, the harbour
charges, the agents’ fees, the
customs duty, and the landside
transport costs.”