Terry Hutson WARNINGS BELLS are ringing at the port of Durban once more following the arrival of an unprecedented number of container ships seeking limited berthing space. Last week no less than 56 ship arrivals were scheduled between Monday (June 3) and the following Tuesday (June 11) Ð this number would normally have been between 32 and 38 ships. As this issue went to press on Monday (June 10) seven ships were berthed inside with another five due. With this type of 'bunching' there is little that any port can do to prevent a build-up of delays, productivity or no productivity. The Durban container terminal currently has seven working berths. One is unavailable at present and plans to extend the terminal into the adjacent Pier 1 multi purpose terminal will take another 18 months. In the meantime the ships keep arriving. As a result of this bunching delays at the terminal have breached the 30 hours mark. SA Port Operations (SAPO) says it intends redirecting some of the self-geared ships to other areas such as the multi-purpose terminal and clearly this will have to be speeded up. SAPO has also announced plans for container vessels en route to Durban with Gauteng boxes to call at Port Elizabeth and discharge them there at equalised rail rates to City Deep.
