Tidal vessels constrained in movement in the port of Durban: associated cargo costs and potential remedies.

Abstract

Large container callers into the port of Durban are not able to explore their inherent captive capacities, resulting in restricted cargo flow through the country aligned to the permissible draft, thus having an adverse impact on seaborne commerce and the wider economy of the country. It is therefore crucial for the berth deepening project to take its intended shape as deeper berths will facilitate the modern generation of large container vessels to be exploited to its full loadable capacity at the summer marks. This will enhance a secure and improved complementarity within the South African ports system, in respect of their roles as both gateway and trans-shipment hub ports for containers. The direct and indirect losses to Transnet and the shipping lines due to the methodical and phased erosion of trans-shipment volumes have been elucidated. The main contributory factors to the loss in trans-shipment volumes have been attributed to capacity constraints stemming out of draft limitations at Durban, as well as the vital component of port operations, namely, efficiency. In the interim, in order to mitigate the constraints, as a short-term remedy for partial recovery with regards to optimisation in cargo liftings, it has been proposed that Durban adopts the concept of operating as a NAABSA port, whereby working container vessels that are “Not Always Afloat But Safely Aground” may sustain continuous working operations while alongside at the port’s container berths, in place of the current stop-start operations. Both the vessels and the port are shown to possess all the essential credentials to safely execute this widely practised manoeuvre. To this effect, the structural integrity of the container ships has been established beyond any reservation, for the fitness of the NAABSA operation while working cargo, as has the plane and homogeneous nature of the seabed in the port of Durban. Regional competitor ports in the southern African region, in their drive to attract additional container volumes through their terminals, are creating capacity ahead of demand, to a point where they may be perceived as a threat to the dominance of the port of Durban. The status quo of these regional foreign ports gives an insight to the infrastructural developments and equipment status. This could perhaps instil a sense of circumspection for Transnet to forge ahead in the right direction.