Continued congestion at South African ports hit by high winds has brought calls for a “speedy solution” from private companies – but port efficiency could also be hindered by competition between investors.
The latest South African Association of Freight Forwarders’ (SAAFF) cargo movement update notes that “adverse weather, vacant berths, dredging, and equipment breakdowns mainly characterised port operations last week”.
“Towards the end of the week, adverse weather conditions disrupted operational performance in Cape Town, while equipment breakdowns, shortages, and dredging operations also impacted operations in Durban.”
Maersk said delays at any terminal come at a significant cost to “both shipping lines and customers”, and it advised customers yesterday that during the seasonal transition to winter weather, strong wind episodes occur.
“Services through Cape Town are still experiencing delays,” said the advisory, and a spokesperson added: “These delays often lead to late arrivals at designated positions, impacting schedule reliability and affecting customers throughout the service’s round trip. Vessel omissions are implemented to accommodate all customers across all port calls on the specific service.”
The spokesperson said the Danish carrier had been working closely with Transnet to improve the situation.
“This is in the best interest of the trade by ensuring the port achieves above-average productivity and mitigates the impact of wind delays… there is still a long way to go to reduce omissions or alleviate berth delays. Maersk is committed towards finding a speedy solution to the situation.”
However, the carrier’s previous moves could suggest that “a speedy solution” has not been its main priority in South Africa.
In October, Transnet chose International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) to develop a container terminal in Durban, leaving Maersk’s port arm, APM Terminals,a losing bidder.
That project at Durban was then stalled after a complaint from APMT, challenging the selection and questioning the solvency evaluation of ICTSI.
A South African court ruled that Transnet’s selection of ICTSI was “potentially flawed … and unfair” and the judge issued an injunction until the case is heard and resolved.
A secondary part of the APMT suit asked the judge to set aside the concession award entirely, but this part has not been heard yet.
At the time, ICTSI chairman Enrique Razon said ICTSI had outbid Maersk by $100m, and branded its blocking the project as an attempt “to ensure that the government of South Africa does not succeed with part of its economic agenda”.
He added: “This of course suits Maersk, which has just as much interest in the process failing as it does in having its far inferior bid being accepted.
“Either outcome would be a dramatic step backwards for the government’s economic agenda, but a success for Maersk’s desire for end-to-end control of South Africa’s logistics system.”
Maersk said: “We believe in South Africa’s potential and stand ready to help realise it through investment in infrastructure and people, and bring world-class port operations to create sustainable economic growth, if given the opportunity.”
Meanwhile, last week, the government launched a request for information to gauge interest from private sector investors looking to boost logistics productivity – especially for South Africa’s rail and port sector.
