SA’s biggest caller arrives

When the 9 178-TEU
capacity containership, the
MSC Chicago,
sailed into Durban at
the beginning of the
month, she became the
largest cargo vessel ever to
call at the port, and proved
the benefit of the recent
deepening and widening of
the port entrance channel
and the harbour basin.
But the sheer size of
her declared container
cargo – 6 707 TEUs,
with 2 288 TEUs to be
discharged and 4 419
TEUs to be loaded – raised
shivers amongst container
road transporters, who
expressed doubts about
the ability of Transnet Port
Terminals (TPT) to handle such numbers in the three
days’ “free” period at the
container stacks in Durban.
Fortunately, the
worries proved to be
unfounded, as the bulk
of the 4 419 export boxes
were transhipments – not
needing to be brought
into the port, as they were
already stored there.
This, said Transnet
National Ports Authority
(TNPA) CE Tau Morwe,
proved the capacity of SA
ports to cater for ships of
this magnitude.