A semantic storm about stacks

There is a serious
argument in the Cape Town
container terminal (CTCT)
about the difference
between “overall stack
time” and “access time” at
stacks – and it’s alleged to
be causing the container
trucking industry severe
scheduling headaches.
According to Peter
Newton, director of
Seaboard, service
providers to ocean
transport users have a
longstanding undertaking
from CTCT that ‘original’
(72-hour) stacks will not
be closed before 21:00 for
22:00 except for Saturdays,
Sundays and public
holidays (SSH) – when the
agreed gate-closing
is 17:00.
“Stack extensions
beyond the ‘original’
(72 hrs),” he added, “are
not subject to the 21:00
for 22:00 rule.”
However, he noted,
premature stack closings
are creeping back, and
pointed out three cases
of this listed by the Cape
Town Harbour Carriers’
Association (CTHCA).
The first was the Hanjin
Chongquin, where the
stacks were accessible
to the transporters from
06:00-17:00 on Sunday
October 9; 06:00-21:00 on
the Monday; and 06:00-
18:00 on Tuesday October
11. This, pointed out
Newton, was 38 hrs – not
the supposed 72 hrs.
The second was the
Alvsborg Bridge, where
the stacks were accessible
for the same hours between
October 9 and 11 – again
totalling 38 hrs. Third
was the Maersk Gironde
where the availability
was between 06:h00 on
Wednesday October 12 and
14:00 on Friday October 14
– again 38 hrs.
“This,” said Newton, “is
really too tight for service
providers. It’s frankly
unfair, especially when
outrageous ‘late arrival’
penalties are gleefully
imposed on people who
are not in a position to
fend for themselves. Nor
is it unknown for shipping
lines to take advantage of
the situation for their slice
of the unjust enrichment
pickings.”
He therefore called
for Louis du Toit, acting
assistant terminal manager
at Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT), to take steps to
rectify what he described
as “this unacceptable
situation”.
But Du Toit’s response
– including the hours
TPT considered were the
“overall stack times” –
didn’t meet with Newton’s
approval.
He pointed to the two
separate TPT and CTHCA
calculations for the stacks
for the Hanjin Chongquin.
The difference between
the two is caused by the
fact that CTCT is not a
24/7 operation, according
to Newton. Therefore
the CTCT calculations
of overall stack time are
purely theoretical, not
access time on a practical
basis
“Stack time implies
access to the stacks,”
he told FTW. “This was
abnormally limited in
respect of the examples
given – which accounts for
the difference of opinion
about TPT’s ‘overall stack
time’ versus CTHCA’s
‘stack access times’.
However, the problem
could be somewhat eased
from November 14.
“The terminal gate is
expected to go 24/7 from
then,” said Newton, “when
the fruit export peak
season gets under way, and
the Orange River grape
exports start to arrive at
all hours. And the reefer
stack is a straddle stack
– not limited to daytime
use like the other stacks
handled by rubber-tyred
gantries (RTGs). This
means that, even in the
night time ‘graveyard’
shift, reefers will still be
able to be road-hauled into
the terminal.”