Second mobile crane arrives in Durban

Terry Hutson THANKS TO the generosity of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) a second mobile crane has arrived in Durban for use at the busy container terminal. The crane, which was under-utilised, was uplifted from the Richards Bay multi purpose terminal by the coastal container ship MSC Daniela, which brought it free of delivery charge to Durban last week. It was also one of the rare times that a MSC ship has called at Richards Bay. The delivery of the mobile crane forms part of a contingency plan recently put into operation by South African Port Operations, aimed at pre-empting the sort of congestion experienced during the latter part of 2001. The crane will go into service together with another crane transferred from Durban's multi purpose terminal and is intended to enable two ships at the terminal to have three cranes working at any one time. Another part of the contingency plan is for ships that are self-geared to work cargo at the adjacent multi purpose terminal. Meanwhile, the delivery of new straddle carriers is continuing, with new machines arriving every month. By the end of the year the full allotment of 60 should have entered service at the container terminal.