Winds shut down Durban container terminal

Terry Hutson
STRONG WINDS that buffeted the city for much of the day last week (Monday 1 October) forced all work at the Durban container terminal to grind to a halt for the day.
The fickle nature of the weather and its effect on port operations was demonstrated only too well, albeit with a sense of bad timing. As the container ships began gathering outside, inside the port a delegation from SA Port Operations was meeting with the media to explain measures being taken to overcome the congestion problem. They were pleased to report that on the previous day (Sunday) only two ships lay outside waiting for vacant berths, but unbeknown to everyone present, another six container ships had gathered at the outer anchorage with seven more booked to arrive later in the day.
By the following morning the winds had been replaced with light rain, which was not able to prevent the resumption of work at the container terminal.