Durban’s quayside productivity gets mild applause

The port productivity at
Durban is as good as you
think it is.
Shipping lines are content
– to a point. Road truckers
are absolutely angered.
The SA Association of
Ship Operators and Agents
(Saasoa) is not too unhappy,
looking at the Transnet Port
Terminals (TPT) figures that
are available.
The port, for example,
handled 2.5-million TEUs
in 2010, compared to 2.3-m
in 2009.
And they handled them
somewhat faster at the
quayside.
According to the TPT
figures, said Saasoa, from
May last year until now the
ship-to-shore cranes at the
Pier 1 terminal have
averaged 23 moves per hour.
“There has therefore been
a bit of an improvement
since last year,” FTW was
told.
At the Durban container
terminal (DCT) the cranes
have averaged 21.1 moves
per hour.
A shipping line executive
agreed with the statement
about improvement in crane
moves.
“At the moment,” he said,
“we are averaging between
23 and 25 container moves
per hour. While it could be
better, we’re ahead of the
pack.”
However, the executive
was extremely unhappy
about road congestion on the
access to Pier 1 and DCT.
With the road works at
their present stage, he said,
the access road to Pier 1 is
only two-lane, and is full of
trucks going in and out of
DCT.
“We are also forever
getting complaints from our
truckers that they can’t get
into DCT because of sidetippers
– moving goods to
and from the Island View
bulk terminals – parked on,
and blocking the road.”
In his summary, the
line executive told FTW
that in meetings with port
management it had been
said that productivity had
increased. “It’s not where
everyone wants it to be,” he
added, “but it has increased.”
But that’s on the
quayside. Truckers running
to and from the terminals
are not seeing an increase in
productivity.
They obviously agreed
with the line executive’s
complaint about road
congestion. It has been
a major gripe for some
years, and – although the
only access road is being
widened to dual carriageway
each way – it has obviously
not got to the stage yet
of showing any sign of
improvement.
The productivity inside
the terminals is also still
under question.
“It’s nowhere as
productive as it could, and
should, be,” said Kevin
Martin, MD of Freightliner
Transport and chairman
of the Durban Harbour
Carriers’ Association
(DHCA). “It’s bad enough in
local terms, but it’s pathetic
when compared with the
worldwide figures.”