Timing of port rankings ‘unjustifiably tarnishes’ clean-up efforts

The World Bank Container Port Performance Index, which placed Cape Town stone last out of 405 ports listed, casts doubt on the efficacy of “robust corrective action underway” at South African ports.

Furthermore, the South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) said in a statement that the data, based on 2023 performance, represented “a period at the height of the crisis”.

“The timing of (the index’s) release unjustifiably tarnishes today’s developments, casting doubt on the efficacy of robust corrective action under-way and the hard work of the recovery teams and the leadership of the National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC), a strong strategic public-private consultative initiative by the government that serves as the anchor.”

Ngqura was placed in 404^th position, Durban 399^th and Port Elizabeth 391^st in the world rankings. Since the release of the rankings on June 4, a number of port officials have objected to the findings, particularly their emphasis on dwell times at the expense of factors influencing the times.

SAAFF and several other stakeholders, among them the government of Djibouti and Australian shipping observers, have flagged shortcomings in the World Bank methodology that placed excessive weight on dwell times. The Port of Djibouti dropped from 29^th to 379^th.

Michelle Phillips, CEO of Transnet, said in a statement that the utility “has not been afforded any opportunity to comment or verify the accuracy of the data or the facts attributed to it in the report”.

“An accurate performance index can have a positive and constructive impact on plans to improve port cargo-handling performance. On the other hand, an inaccurate index has a damaging impact on the reputation of measured terminals,” Phillips said.

“Accordingly, it is key to afford measured terminals an opportunity to assess the sample data for verification. Transnet Port Terminals has been requesting access to this data over the past few years, without any success,” she said.

Despite this methodology critique SAAFF said it believes the report emphasised that South Africa lost time that was wasted at outer anchorage, which the association and Transnet accept.

“Nevertheless, using a vessel’s stay duration as the sole measure of container port performance, without considering other factors like throughput and handling rates, highlights key obstacles to using the findings to measure container port performance accurately on a comparative basis,” said SAAFF.