Sapo gets the thumbs-up for handling of storm delays

THE STORM two weeks ago which shut the port of Durban for 48-hours led to delays of three-to-four days for container ships waiting to dock, according to the shipping industry. But the after-effect on the landside movement of freight was minimal, road transporters told FTW. According to Dave Rennie, chairman of the Container Liner Operators’ Forum (Clof), the industry is levying no blame on the port authorities for the delays in berthing ships – with storm conditions a natural force beyond the control of man. The Durban container terminal (DCT), said Rennie, worked very hard over the two weeks after the storm subsided, and containers were unloaded and loaded at an acceptable rate. Indeed, Clof feels that a sufficiently high level of focus has fallen on previous problems at the terminal – and the likes of Maria Ramos, Transnet CEO, taking an individual interest, ensures that promises of improved productivity are fulfilled. There were no problems in landside freight movement, according to Kevin Martin, vice-chairman of the Durban harbour carriers division of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff). There were some minor glitches, he told FTW. Sapo’s plan to move out import containers during the harbour closure – and clear space on the quays – certainly worked. “But delays in vessels arriving at the terminal meant that stack dates had to be delayed, and road transporters had to hold back on delivering export containers until the stacks eventually opened,” he said. However these ups and downs tended to balance each other out and truckers’ schedules were little different from normal. Martin also pointed out that the storm arrived at the right time, in a way, with March being normally a quiet month in the year – and seafreight imports at a natural low anyway. The storm and its aftermath also did little to dent Sapo’s confidence that it will be able to cope with the pre- Christmas rush in imports from August to November – which it forecasts will see container volumes increase by up to 15% during this peak period. One of the main factors in Sapo achieving success will be the opening of the new container handling capacity at Pier One in May – providing the additional capacity to handle another 750 000-TEUs each year.