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Public Enterprises Minister, Mr Malusi Gigaba at the unveiling of the new ship-to-shore cranes at Durban Container Terminal. Photo: Lauren Rawlins
Terry Hutson and Suren Naidoo
The Durban Container Terminal is set to see a “massive jump in productivity” with the commissioning into service of seven of the biggest container cranes in the southern hemisphere by Minister of Public Enterprises Malusi Gigaba yesterday.
Representing an investment of R700 million, the bright red ship-to-shore cranes dominate the skyline along the terminal’s North Quay and were ordered from China’s Zhenhua Heavy Industry (ZPMC).
Transnet said ZPMC was the only company among those bidding for the contract that could meet its supply requirements and schedule of delivery.
Each crane has the capability of lifting four 6m or two 12m containers up to a maximum of 80 tons at a time, which, the minister said, would assist the terminal in increasing the number of containers that could be moved on to or from a ship in an hour.
One of the new ship-to-shore cranes at Durban Container Terminal, the cranes are able to move four containers at a time. Photo: Lauren Rawlins
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Transnet said the cranes could handle new generation vessels with 24 containers stowed across the width of the deck. Through further innovation and optimum planning, the terminal would be able to stretch the cranes’ capability to carry four 12m, empty containers simultaneously through vertical “twin lift”.
“These capabilities will see a massive jump in productivity with gross crane moves per hour, which is a key measure of terminal efficiency and of how well equipment is being used.
“(This will) see it jumping from the current 26 to 33 moves per hour over the next three years. This is a 27 percent improvement,” Gigaba said.
“Ship working hours, the rate at which a terminal is able to load and offload container ships in an hour – and a key consideration for our customers – will improve from the current 68 containers to 85 once our operators are fully conversant with the equipment,” the minister said.
Gigaba acknowledged that, in the past, the Durban Container Terminal had experienced significant productivity challenges, which affected the overall productivity of the port. This he blamed on old and outdated equipment.
Transnet said the contract with ZPMC had involved significant local manufacturing, skills transfer and supplier development elements.
This included technology transfer for the manufacture of spares and components, use of local expertise and labour in the various stages of assembly, and a significant training element in Durban and Shanghai.
The seven new cranes were part of Transnet’s rolling R300 billion, seven-year investment programme. Transnet Port Terminals, which currently operates a fleet of 45 cranes of various types in seven ports, intends buying another 39 cranes, including ship-to-shore cranes, in the coming years.
Responding to a question about whether these acquisitions might not make the Durban port more expensive to operate, Brian Molefe, Transnet group chief executive, said that increasing productivity, made possible by having efficient infrastructure and equipment, meant Durban would be able to lower the actual cost of doing business.
“On a regional scale, the efficiency of our ports is one of our competitive advantages. The lesson we have learned is never to stop maintaining and developing our infrastructure,” he said.
“We’ve made our choice, to move with improving capacity with the next generation of cranes in anticipation of future developments,” Gigaba said.
“In the short, medium and long term we plan to reduce the cost of doing business by improving efficiency,” he said.
Akash Singh, the president of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said development and investment in port infrastructure, which improved efficiency and lowered the cost of business, was good.
However, he warned that the investment had to deliver tangible efficiency results for the country’s busiest container port, which remained to be seen.
