New port equipment will reduce wind delays

Addressing the wind in the Port of Cape Town

SOUTH AFRICA: With a total replacement of Rubber Tyred Gantries (RTGs) planned for the Port of Cape Town to help address the hours lost due to severe wind as well as a more proactive approach to planning ship diversions, port users can hope to see some positive changes to improve port efficiency in the future.

Addressing stakeholders at a report back on the CSIR-led Port of Cape Town Extreme Wind Research Project last week, Oscar Borchards confirmed that the first batch of nine new Liebherr RTGs will be delivered by March next year.

“We are hoping to have them fully commissioned by July and the balance of the order will arrive in December (2025) representing a total replacement of the RTG fleet,” he said providing an update on the order of 27 RTGs for the Port of Cape Town.

Emphasising the need to collaborate with industry, Borchards also addressed the shortage of plug points for reefers. “Perishable cargo cannot stay on the trucks. We need to get it off and plugged in and secured,” he said as he confirmed plans to work with external facilities during the upcoming fruit season.

With processes in place that adapt to the prevailing weather and align container stacking accordingly, Borchards also described future plans to establish a more strategic ship diversion strategy that makes use of other berths in the port and identifies additional facilities.

“We know we can’t change the weather patterns, but we have a plan for the season that aims to evacuate containers faster,” he said confirming that the terminal operator was recruiting more operators and that additional resources will be employed to assist with recovery after a severe wind incident.

The research project aims to assist Transnet proactively plan investment in port infrastructure and equipment. Leading the project, Neville Sweijd, Director: Alliance for Collaboration on Climate & Earth Systems Science (ACCESS) at CSIR, noted that one extreme event or season should not be seen as the start of a trend.

Without an understanding of what weather trends to expect in the future, he warned against investment in equipment based on the occurrence of extreme events.

Providing an update on Transnet National Ports Authority’s (TNPA) Cape Town container terminal strategy Inga Ndulula, said that the aim was to develop a predictive model for the future that would mitigate the concern of investing in redundant equipment.

“We need to define the equipment we need to invest in based on climate change. Research will help us understand the economic impact and constraints we are facing,” she said.

Ndulula said that it was important to understand the true economic impact of what a 60-hour loss in productivity in the port meant for the entire value chain.

In his presentation on the economic impact of the extreme winds, Daniel Rossmeisl, suggested that, with the right research and interventions, Cape Town could position itself as a leading expert in mitigating the impact of wind in ports.

He also provided an overview of the status of the research project. Currently in the third phase of the project, the research has already established the extent of the fruit value chain and undertaken an impact assessment.

The team is now analysing data associated with the actual cost of extreme weather events for employers in terms of overtime, insurance, fuel, storage and more.

With an overall objective to investigate the drivers, trends and projected future of disruptive wind extremes on the operations of the Port of Cape Town, the study has already highlighted several significant statistics that emphasise the substantial economic as well as reputational losses incurred due to delays.

According to one of the presentations, each additional day a product is delayed in port equates to an additional average 70 km distance between trading partners. In addition, it recorded a 7.7% increase in insurance expenditure by farmers since 2019.

With input from climate experts during the session, it is clear however, that it’s not a simple deduction that climate change will result in more wind and that investment in equipment needs to reflect this trend.

According to input during the report back, future port plans, therefore, need to be based on more robust trend analysis.

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