When Durban sneezes,
Cape Town gets
pneumonia – and
judging by the latest turn of
events it’s a dose of double
pneumonia.
According to Terry Gale,
chairman of the Exporters’
Club Western Cape (ECWC),
congestion at the Port of
Durban has always affected
Cape Town – but the situation
is getting worse.
“In the past two months it
has become a serious concern,
with goods sometimes not
moving for two weeks,”
he says. “Because of the
congestion in Durban or the
upgrades that are taking place,
decisions are made by shipping
lines that directly affect Cape
Town and for some reason it is
a decision that always affects
Cape Town negatively – either
they bypass the port or arrive
much later than expected.”
One cargo owner, who
preferred not to be named, told
FTW how he missed a major
deadline in February due to this
situation.
“Our cargo was due in the
first week of February and we
had about five days to play
with in the event of delays. Due
to the vessel bypassing Cape
Town and deciding to discharge
in the Eastern Cape because
of congestion in Durban, the
cargo finally arrived in the
last week of February. This
has been an extremely costly
exercise.”
According to Gale, because
of Durban delays, vessels are
either discharging cargo in the
Eastern Cape or bypassing the
Cape completely.
“We are seeing more
frequently what is being
termed ‘cut and run’ by liners,”
he said. “And of course we
understand that they have
deadlines to meet and cannot
delay on the South African
coast, but it is becoming a
major problem in Cape Town.”
According to International
Liner Agencies’ (ILA)
Gary Bedser, explaining to
customers is becoming a
tricky affair, as stack dates are
unknown until the last minute.
“When vessels don’t
arrive cargo is standing –
sometimes for up to two
weeks – at the port as it waits
for another vessel to stop.
That is completely out of our
hands and from a groupage
point of view becomes costly
when people want their cargo
removed and then airfreighted
for example,” he said.
It is a situation the Western
Cape can ill afford. In January
this year alone the Port of Cape
Town was wind-bound for 255
hours.
“So either the cargo stands
because the vessels are not
stopping here because of
Durban, or the cargo stands
because the wind blows,”
said another cargo owner.
“It is a no-win situation and
since much of the cargo is
perishable, it is a disaster
waiting to happen.”
Gale said while imports were
increasingly being transhipped
from the Eastern Cape where
the cargo is being dropped
while vessels wait for berthing
spots in Durban, exports have
been affected just as negatively.
“In February we had a
situation where the stack
dates were announced late on
a Friday afternoon and were
open on the Saturday and the
Sunday. Getting staff to work
overtime at that late notice is
extremely difficult and it is
all happening because of the
unpredictability of vessels due
to Durban’s stranglehold on
Cape Town.”
Jerome Wolhuter of CHC
Container Depot in Cape Town
agrees, saying it is becoming
increasingly difficult to work
around the unpredictability of
service.
“It is hampering our service
to the freight industry,” he
said. “These delays are having
a negative impact in the Cape
Town freight industry to a point
where new importers cannot
continue importing as too often
the deadlines are not met. The
result is lost sales or liability
for penalty clauses which they
just can’t afford.”
INSERT
‘Either the cargo
stands because
vessels bypass the
port – or because the
wind blows.’
CAPTION
The Port of Cape Town … ready for action, but often bypassed.
