Transnet National Ports Authority has raised the idea an offshore port facility to cater for the growing number of larger vessels calling at our ports that require deep draughts.
Delivering the keynote address at the 2019 Southern African Transport Conference currently under way at the CSIR in Pretoria, TNPA COO Nozipho Mdawe said that a single deep “green” offshore port facility would not only be able to accommodate the world's largest vessels but would also act as a transhipment hub.
“Green ports have a sustainable future and this is why a deep offshore port might be a plausible development for TNPA,” she said.
“Port draughts in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town are very restrictive and require vast sums of money in order to handle larger vessels.
“Most cargo ships today carry at least 22 000 TEUs which require deep port draughts - and South Africa needs to invest large sums of money to create suitable port draughts.”
