Image: Gallo

Container terminal, Durban Harbour

Hector Danisa, executive manager for Durban Container Terminals (DCT), said: "Most of the productivity issues and downtime in 2011 related to technical issues following the national rollout of the new NAVIS Sparcs N4 terminal operating system."

"TPT initially worked closely with the NAVIS software manufacturers to iron out the issues, and then set out to introduce a recovery plan to industry and other stakeholders last year. This plan was aimed at stabilising the terminal from August 2011 and growing the business thereafter by encouraging improvement in key areas such as human capital, equipment and planning," he added.

To date the Ship Working Hour (SWH) performance at the terminal had reached a high of 53 at DCT's two prime berths. This was an improvement on the low of 44 moves experienced shortly after the introduction of NAVIS in April 2011, but still not at the aspirational level of 75 at which the terminal is committed to operating. SWH is the performance measure used by customers which relates to the number of containers moved by the number of cranes working a vessel in one hour.

Gross crane moves per crane per hour (GCH) had improved from an aggregate of 18 GCH following the NAVIS launch to around 22 GCH presently. This is still short of the internal target of 28 GCH. Hence operator training and equipment upgrades are being targeted through an accelerated capital expenditure and investment programme spearheaded by the Transnet Group.

Truck turnaround time, for trucks to enter the terminal's gate, collect or drop off cargo and exit the terminal, had averaged at 32 minutes in January 2012 against a target of 35 minutes.

Stack occupancy, which measures the degree of congestion in the container stacking yard, had improved from 74% post NAVIS launch to 61% presently against the norm of about 65%.

Transnet's accelerated capital expenditure plan aims to reduce the impact of breakdowns due to ageing equipment at DCT. The terminal has taken delivery of 28 new diesel-electric Straddle Carriers, 14 of which have twin-lift capability. These were commissioned in December 2011.

DCT is ahead of schedule in its programme of refurbishing 30 other second generation straddle carriers by May 2012, with 17 completed and the balance on schedule for completion as per project commitment. The next refurbishment of straddles is currently being finalised for implementation from the third quarter of 2012.