Transnet has trained its gaze on the country’s coastline to determine when it will be safe to resume operations, it has said in a statement.
This after stormy weather, rough sea conditions and swells in excess of nine metres (30 feet) led to the disruption of incoming and outgoing vessel movements at the Port of Cape Town on Monday.
It added that five vessels had been unable to enter the port - and by noon yesterday berthing was still on hold.
Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) said it would continue to test the swells and would allow vessels to enter the port once it was safe to do so.
With inclement conditions expected to last until tomorrow - by which time the cold front should’ve made its way north-east over the interior - the ports of Ngqura and Port Elizabeth, which also found themselves wind-bound by bad weather, took all necessary action to ensure the safety of employees and property, according to Transnet.
In Cape Town, terminal operations were suspended, with gantry cranes and other essential operating equipment safely secured.
Elsewhere in the Cape the cold front continued to blanket areas of the Karoo in thick layers of snow.
Yesterday afternoon traffic between Hanover and Richmond was disrupted with trucks jack-knifing and transporters warning each another not to brake suddenly and to slow down.
This morning Freight News received word that the R61 north of Graaff Reinet was closed as thick snow covered the Naudesberg Pass.
