Terry Hutson SHIPPERS WERE dealt another unkind blow by the weather gods at the weekend when the port of Durban was forced to close for about 46 hours between 14:00 on Friday (July 19) and 11:30 on Sunday (July 21). Huge swells and extremely rough seas off the port entrance were described as among the worst seen in many years, while winds added to the danger by gusting up to 45 knots. Some ships in the outer anchorage had to raise their anchors and move further out to sea as the seas dragged them closer inshore. The port was closed at 14:00 on Friday with the first ship to enter harbour coming across the bar at 11:30 on Sunday. However, according to the Durban Container Terminal, things could have been worse. By Monday morning there were only ten container ships lined up outside and the terminal was at full stream to catch up the unexpected backlog.
