The R4,2-billion capacity expansion at the Cape Town container terminal, is progressing well, with the first of four berths to be deepened expected to come on stream in July, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) reported on Monday.

Berth 601, which was the first of four berths that was being deepened to a depth of 15,5 m to accommodate larger new-generation vessels, once dredging, deepening and the quay wall refurbishment were completed.

The berth would serve its first vessels in July 2009 with four Liebherr cranes expected to be commissioned during July and August.

Berth 602 would be the next to be taken out of service for deepening and quay refurbishment.

Work on the four berths and the Ben Schoeman basin, which would also be deepened, would be phased over five years to reduce disruption.

TPT business unit executive Oscar Borchards said in a statement on Monday that the ongoing expansion work and procurement of new equipment would ensure that the facility was better prepared when the global market picked up again in the near future.

“In May, we took delivery of four rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs) manufactured by Kalmar Industries. By the end of the expansion programme, 32 RTGs will be operational within the terminal, together with eight Liebherr ship-to-shore cranes, four of which have been delivered and assembled to date,” he added.

An “aggressive” training programme had also been put in place to ensure that the required skilled operators could be trained to handle the new equipment.

“The terminal has, to date, trained 40 operators of lifting equipment, with 24 employees having completed theory, simulation and practical training on the ship-to-shore Liebherr cranes.  This will ensure adequate operator resources to man the new cranes,” said Borchards.

A R6,7-million MasterLift 4000 advanced training simulator would arrive at the terminal this month to further assist with the training.

The simulator is housed in a standard shipping container and is able to simulate weather conditions, environmental conditions and situations that could not safely be replicated using traditional training methods, TPT explained.

Further, the terminal would also cross over from its current terminal operating system to a web-based operating system in September. This would offer improved customer support, lower operating costs and increased stacking yard capacity.

The expansion project at South Africa’s second-largest container terminal would double its capacity to 1,4-million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) by 2012, compared with the former 740 000-TEUs capacity.

The five-year construction programme formed part of the larger logistic group, the Transnet Group’s, R78-billion capital expenditure programme.