Durban Port users have commended Transnet for its handling of the threat of pending severe thunderstorms and strong winds last week.
The port authority temporarily closed the port as a precautionary measure and issued several notices to port users last Tuesday instructing ships, with the exception of some vessels, to depart from berths and head out to sea.
Transnet said in one of its notices that wind speeds of up to 45 miles per hour were expected to hit the area. Transporter and member of the Durban Harbour Carriers’ Association, Kevin Martin, said port management had made the correct decision to shut the port given the severe weather that had impacted Port Elizabeth harbour and the warning of severe thunderstorms and winds that were expected to hit Durban.
“I think they handled it correctly especially after that crane got blown into the water in Port Elizabeth and after last year’s bad storm during which ships broke their moorings and there was a lot of damage in the harbour,” Martin said.
