Seven new cranes for Durban Container Terminal
14 Sep 2011
Transnet has placed orders for seven new ship-to-shore cranes for the Durban Container Terminal. The cranes have a tandem lifting capability and can lift two 12-metre containers at once or four six metres ones.
The new cranes will be manufactured in China but in line with the government's Competitive Supplier Development Programme, the purchase agreement has a localisation component that includes job creation and skills development.
The cranes will be installed at the Pier 2 terminal, which claims to have an average of 23 moves per gross crane hour.
Transnet says the order for the seven new cranes is part of a larger programme that will see the company's fleet of port handling equipment upgraded.
The cranes for part of Transnet's R110-billion infrastructure investment programme planned for the next five years.
High export stats
Meanwhile, Durban's port statistics for August show that a total tonnage, including TEUs, at the harbour reached 7 525 881 tons with imports contributing 4 905 883 and exports reaching 2 618 998.
Exports at Richards Bay dominated the statistics with 8 029 748 of materials - mainly coal - being shipped from the port. It handled a total tonnage of 8 743 215 tons of cargo in August and imports amounted to 793 909 tons of which 697 982 tons excluded TEUs.
The Richards Bay figures show that there were 439 containers in TEUs carrying imports and 708 with exports.
This compares with imports of 137 313 containers in TEUs at the Durban Container Terminal and 112 289 carrying exports, giving a total of 249 602 TEUs.
About Paddy Hartdegen
Paddy Hartdegen has been working as a journalist and writer for the past 40 years since his first article was published in the Sunday Tribune when he was just 16-years-old. He has written 13 books, edited a plethora of business-to-business publications and written for most of the major newspapers in South Africa.
