Triple whammy hits CT terminal

Pressure cooker intensity was evident as Cape Town Container Terminal worked feverishly to come to grips with a series of adverse operational factors in order to handle 18 further arrivals last week. As dusk fell last Friday, Oscar Borchards, business unit executive manager for the terminal, told FTW: “We need to clear the vessel backlog using our maximum resources, including bringing in staff on overtime pay, as there are already six vessels waiting outside and a further two due over the weekend.” Listing the various factors that have made life more than a little difficult, Borchards recalls the savage South-easterly wind that sprung up on February 28, blowing some of the 25 000 competitors in the Argus Pick ’n Pay race from their cycles the next day, and only abating on Monday morning, accounting for 35 operational hours lost. This was compounded by another seven hours lost due to Eskom power cuts over two successive days – and as one would expect, resulting in equipment inactivity. Reports reflect that for whatever reason, only two cranes worked MSC Flamingo and MSC Voyager after their arrival on March 12 and 13, whereas three cranes per vessel are the norm, if circumstances permit. Container liner operators are none too happy with the state of affairs, one complaining of a seeming “lack” of technical supervision and “improper planning” at the terminal. “It has happened that a crane would go out at say, 14:00, but the crew goes home at 16:00 and only attends to repairs at 06:00 the following day. This is totally unacceptable to us and detrimental to the container lines.” Borchards admits to a departure of technical expertise, staff having resigned “for various reasons” but insists there is no shortfall, nor a lack of skills. What is more, he says, an in-house training programme launched two years ago for engineer and artisan apprentices is beginning to yield the first dividends.