Kevin Martin, director of road transport operators, Freightliner, and vice-chairman of the Durban harbour carriers section of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff), told FTW that he welcomed this move. “But we feel that the whole thing is a much broader issue than Omar suggests,” he said. And it’s not necessarily just the port operators who are at fault, he added, also pointing a finger of blame at forwarders and shipping lines for causing delays. “We also have hassles caused by a delay in getting paperwork from forwarders,” Martin said, “and sometimes there’s no list immediately available of what containers are to be off-loaded from ships.” He also questioned Omar’s suggestion that shipping lines should switch from New Pier to the DCT. “That’s not going to answer the problem,” he told FTW, “just cause another one of congestion at the DCT. “The New Pier facility, remember, was set up to take that strain off DCT, and with ships having to use their own gear to off-load containers (there are no gantry cranes at piers 105/107) things are bound to be slower. But there are certainly things we have to discuss with Sapo management.” And that’s on the agenda, as far as Malcolm Sodalay of road transport operators, Sammar Investment and chairman of the Durban harbour carriers, is concerned – at the same time expressing delight that Du Toit had called for a meeting. This crucial get together was tentatively diarised for May 9, the day this issue of FTW went to print.
