SA PORTS PROJECTS

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The expansion of the Durban harbour is necessary to provide capacity and to meet future freight demands in the interests of the eThekwini municipality and South Africa. This is the view of State parastatal Transnet and the municipality, which form part of a joint initiative referred to as the Transnet-eThekwini Municipality Planning Initiative (Tempi). A newsletter released by the municipality in May 2007 said that the development of the Port of Durban must be sustainable and balance social, environmental and economic benefits.



The Durban port upgrade is part of an R11-billion port infrastructure upgrade across 13 terminals in six ports in South Africa, which is the result of a growing maritime industry and unexpected growth in containerised cargo shipping.



The upgrade of the Port of Durban involved the development of Pier One as a container-handling facility, to accommodate a yearly capacity of 600 000 twenty-foot-equivalent units. Other projects identified by the National Ports Authority, include the widening and deepening of the Durban harbour mouth, the upgrading of Island View berths five and six, and the upgrading of the Maydon Wharf terminal that will entail new commercial leases, the replacement of quay walls, rationalising and upgrading rail and road infrastructure, and upgrading security and access. Further projects include the Bayhead digout project, which will add a large amount of water area to the bay, while creating two large container terminals on either side of the basin.



The Tempi project has been concluded and explored critical planning issues, which concentrated on the economic, engineering, environ- mental, traffic and transport, and port and precinct planning. This project was an initiative from Tempi representatives with the assistance of specialist consultants. However, the newsletter released by the municipality, said that further detailed planning work and studies through participation with respective parties would continue as part of the regulatory process required in any port development.



TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

A new access control system was installed at the Durban container terminal (DCT), in May this year, to enhance the International Ship and Port Facility Security code, with the aim of complying with international standards.



State-owned ports operator, the South African Port Operations (Sapo) business risk, corporate governance and legal GM Pru Archary says, “The introduction of the new access control system by Sapo, an operating division of Transnet, is intended to create a safe environment for all terminal users.”



She adds, “The project is aimed at positioning South African ports in line with international best practice and ensuring security is non-negotiable and everyone’s business.”



In his address at the 19th National Maritime Conference, held in April this year, National Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe, echoed similar sentiments and said that complying with international secu- rity conventions was necessary and that issues of safety and security were to be prioritised as the South African maritime industry grows.



The new system is a pilot project and will manage access to the DCT. This will be accomplished by the introduction of a shuttle ser-vice for all terminal users, excluding truck drivers. The shuttle service will restrict illegal access to the terminal. Permits will be issued to all terminal visitors and all visits will have to be preannounced. The pick-up and drop-off zones will be signposted for different terminal users and will be divided into categories for the use of stevedores, customers and other terminal users.



Meanwhile, a high-tech weighbridge facility has been introduced at Sapo’s Maydon Wharf terminal, repositioning the terminal as a one-stop shop facility. The terminal will provide ser-vices such as weighing, storage, handling, loading and offloading.



Maydon Wharf business unit executive Tracey Neat says, “The new facility is in line with Sapo’s strategic objective to meet and exceed customer expectations by providing highly advanced systems and equipment to promote effici-ency and high performance.”



The advantages of the weighbridge facility include ensuring transparency when declaring cargo and a more efficient and faster weighing process. It also allows cargo owners or terminals to track the cargo as the system has a GeneChip, which is software compliant. This facility ensures accurate weighing of cargo at points of loading and offloading and reduces the risk to equipment, people and the environment. It also prevents damage to roads as trucks are not overloaded.



The environmental-impact assessment on the Bayhead expansion will start later this year and is expected to be completed over a period of about two years. The cost of this project is esti-mated at R25-billion. The final stage of the sheet wall was expected to be completed by April this year. The construction is being fasttracked to alleviate congestion at the DCT and the expected completion date is August 2007.



In April this year, employees at the Pier One container terminal received training in preparation for the reopening of the high-performance terminal. This terminal will feature Navis, a new computer system and rubber-tyred-gantry (RTG) operations. Pier One was temporarily closed in December 2006 to create additional capacity of about 720 000 transport equivalent units by the end of 2007. The training of Pier One container terminal employees and infrastructure and superstructure form part of Sapo’s strategic objective of creating capacity before demand.



Operations resumed at the end of May and Pier One will start up with one berth, two ship-to-shore (STS) gantry cranes and RTG cranes. The RTG operations and equipment, which have been commissioned and tested by the respective operators, will be used for the first time in the country.



The 42 TRG operators and 15 STS operators have been trained by a team of experts from Sri Lanka and have received extensive practical and academic experience. Sapo says that other developments that will add to the terminal’s increased efficiency is the establishment of a new rail termi- nal, which is currently under construction and will promote seamless operations with rail and sea transport.



Contractors appointed on the Durban port upgrade include construction group Protekon, structural engineering and contracting company DSE, South African engineering contractor Basil read, carrier straddle manufacturers Kalmar Industries and a joint initiative between construction groups Grinaker-LTA, Interbeton and Bafokeng Civil Works.