New cranes at Africa’s busiest port Durban to minimise delays

JOHANNESBURG – Container ships arriving at Africa’s busiest port, Durban, will have waiting times slashed from seven days in 2003 to just 16 hours with new infrastructure the head of the port’s advisory board said yesterday.

Dave Rennie, co-chair of Durban container terminal’s advisory board said the docking delays had already been cut to between 16 and 48 hours after the introduction of new work practices and better inter-agency coordination. “We will be at 16 hours later this year.I would be very disappointed if we did not achieve the situation where there was no delay,” Rennie told journalists at a briefing on Durban’s improved performance.”This is just the first benchmark.”Durban’s container terminal has been dogged by congestion and massive backlogs after years of underinvestment, a situation Rennie said had put Durban near the bottom of the performance pile of major international ports.In the past, analysts have even blamed delays at South Africa’s ports for large distortions in the nation’s trade balance.Rennie said his advisory board was striving to ensure infrastructure development in Durban kept pace with a 10 per cent annual increase in global container shipments.Three new container cranes will be installed by October and another three next year; 19 in total, bringing Durban into line with other major harbours, which have a loading point every 100 metres.Last year, the equivalent of 1,5 million 20 foot containers passed through Durban and 1,8 million would be moved after the new cranes had been installed, Rennie said.Cargo worth 100 billion rand currently flows through the port every year.-Nampa-Reuters”We will be at 16 hours later this year.I would be very disappointed if we did not achieve the situation where there was no delay,” Rennie told journalists at a briefing on Durban’s improved performance.”This is just the first benchmark.”Durban’s container terminal has been dogged by congestion and massive backlogs after years of underinvestment, a situation Rennie said had put Durban near the bottom of the performance pile of major international ports.In the past, analysts have even blamed delays at South Africa’s ports for large distortions in the nation’s trade balance.Rennie said his advisory board was striving to ensure infrastructure development in Durban kept pace with a 10 per cent annual increase in global container shipments.Three new container cranes will be installed by October and another three next year; 19 in total, bringing Durban into line with other major harbours, which have a loading point every 100 metres.Last year, the equivalent of 1,5 million 20 foot containers passed through Durban and 1,8 million would be moved after the new cranes had been installed, Rennie said.Cargo worth 100 billion rand currently flows through the port every year.-Nampa-Reuters