Simulator prepares trainees for October launch

Operations will begin at the Ngqura Container Terminal (NCT) in October 2009, Transnet officials confirmed last week. Infrastructure around the port is starting to take shape, with all the components for the terminal’s 22 RTG cranes and six Megamax ship-toshore (STS) cranes already delivered. Two of the RTGs and two STS cranes have already been commissioned to be used in the port’s recruitment and training programme for Operators of Lifting Equipment (OLEs). Training also includes sessions on a R6.7-million advanced training simulator. According to Solly Letsoalo, Transnet Port Terminals’ chief of operations, the training simulator is the only one of its kind in South Africa. The fully computerised simulator enables crane operators to hone their skills and work towards productivity targets, without interrupting normal operations or causing millions of rands worth of damage to equipment.