Sunken dredger may delay Ngqura extension

The sinking of the 74-metre motor hopper dredger Jin Hang Bo early on New Year’s day alongside the extended Ngqura quayside is expected to delay the commissioning of two additional berths by up to four months. No reasons have been given for the sinking of the Jin Hang Bo, but Ngqura is known to be plagued by an underwater surge current, which is strong enough to snap hawsers securing container vessels to the quayside. The Ngqura container terminal currently has 800 metres of operational quayside, and is able to handle about 800 000 TEUs a year. Additions to the quay wall have been completed, and the Jin Hang Bo was dredging the quayside in order to increase the berth length to 1 300m, increasing capacity to two million TEUs a year. FTW understands that two additional gantry cranes are being added to the existing fleet of six cranes in order to increase capacity. Transnet says existing port operations have not been affected by the sinking of the dredger, and that all oil and hydraulic fluids have been removed to prevent pollution. All the crew of around 15 were safely removed from the dredger, which is only partly submerged.