Durban -
The Durban Port Terminal has been brought back to life.
Two berths were reopened on Thursday as part of the greater refurbishment of Durban’s Terminal. This is in line with Transnet’s efforts to make it a world class terminal.
In a statement, Transnet Port Terminals general manager of KwaZulu-Natal operations, Zeph Ndlovu, said in a pool of over 3 000 ports worldwide, the Durban Container Terminal ranked in the top 50 for the number of containers handled annually.
“Efficiency is important in our service offering, and we have undertaken this project with the customer in mind and completed Phase 1 on time.”
Ndlovu said that although the refurbishment was completed in record time, it was only a start. He warned there were challenges ahead and they should not be complacent.
The South African Association of Ship Operators and Agents welcomed the reopening.
Chief executive Peter Besnard said: “What has been promised has been delivered.”
He encouraged businesses to let Transnet know what they wanted at the early stages of the refurbishment so that they could make a meaningful contribution to future projects.
This was important, as his members used Transnet’s services.
Terminal port manager Hector Danisa said: “It is a move forward as we are creating a legacy”.
Danisa said the quick completion of the terminal was the result of a successful collaboration between the company’s staff and customers.
The Maersk Innoshima was the first vessel to berth at the newly reopened berth.
Assistant operations manager at Maersk Emmanuel Ntshangase said: “From the operations point of view, it is good for us. It means that our customers will know where the vessel will berth and they can make plans on where to collect their goods”.
He said the constant communication during the refurbishment resulted in Maersk being able to keep its clients updated and preventing a situation where they would have to “put out fires” because of a lack of communication.