The majority of the Ngqura container terminal’s infrastructure is now in place and final recruitment and training programmes have started ahead of the project’s commercial launch in five months’ time, Transnet Port Terminals said on Monday.

Divisional executive manager for the container sector Siyabulela Mhlaluka said that the project was at a “very critical” stage, but that project leaders were highly confident, as it moved closer to the experimental operations testing process, planned for August and September, followed by the commercial launch in October.

Transnet has invested more than R10-billion to date to develop the facility as a high-performance terminal.

“Our most significant progress as far as world-class equipment is concerned, includes the assembly and commissioning of 12 rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs) and four Megamax ship-to-shore cranes to date. Two additional ship-to-shores scheduled for delivery in May or June will complete the fleet of six such cranes, while the remainder of the 22 RTGs will be delivered as the programme progresses further,” he said.

Further equipment on order includes two rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) currently en route from Shanghai, China, which would arrive in May or June, to serve the rail terminal and the Johannesburg to Ngqura rail corridor.

Around one-half of the 1 680 reefer plug points for refrigerated cargo were ready to be electrified and Mhlaluka said this would be sufficient to serve vessels in October.

The balance of the reefer points would be made available in stages. Noncritical equipment such as the six reach stackers and empty container handlers were scheduled for arrival in June.

Mhlaluka said that the terminal would be implementing other high-tech systems including the web-based Navis SPARCS N4 terminal operating system, which Transnet recently introduced in a global first for port operators, running it from a central server across multiple marine and rail sites. Ngqura container terminal would also boast a fully automated gate system, similar to that introduced at Pier 1 container terminal in Durban last year.

Transnet has already taken beneficial occupation of the main building cluster comprising mess and ablution facilities, which is due for handover in June. The temporary services workshop, including offices and mess rooms, has been occupied since January and would likely continue to be used even once the main hauler zone workshop was handed over in December.

The 60 000 ha Ngqura container terminal will open with a capacity of 800 000 20-foot equivalent unit (TEUs), but by its end state will boast a capacity of two-million TEUs.

The Port of Ngqura will be the only port in South Africa able to receive new generation vessels carrying between 8 000 and 9 000 TEUs with a draft of 16,5 m.

The commissioned cranes were currently being used in the terminal’s intensive operators of lifting equipment training programme, which has produced 42 RTG operators and 18 ship-to-shore operators since January.

The 60 operators were now nearing the end of their training programme, which involved four weeks of classroom-based theoretical education, one week of simulation training through Transnet Port Terminals’ mobile advanced crane simulator, and 12 weeks of practical application manoeuvring actual cranes and shipping containers.

Transnet is now entering the next wave of recruitment, and Mhlaluka said that appointments would continue to be made from within the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan area.

Upcoming appointments would include around 33 driver articulated vehicle operators, as well as cargo controllers, first line managers and supervisors, a safety, health, environmental and quality manager, and support services and administration staff.

“We already have our core operations staff and 11 expert planners who will be responsible for vessel planning, berth planning, rail planning, traffic control and stack  planning, ” said Mhlaluka.

He added that the terminal currently had in place a staff complement of just over 80, of which more than 90% were appointments drawn from the local region. This would be stepped up to 210 permanent employees by the time the terminal opened in October.