The handover of specialised computer equipment to the Umfolozi Technical and Vocational Education and Training College would address one of the greatest challenges faced by Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) at the Port of Richards Bay – a lack of skills in a highly specialised, industrial environment.
 

TPT chief maintenance officer Shane Narainsamy this week said the donation of computerised training equipment similar to that recently installed at the port’s bulk facilities, as well as drawing equipment, had helped Transnet bridge the skills gap and bring on board sufficiently skilled new recruits who did not need additional equipment-specific training.
 

TPT had 924 employees and recently appointed 743 contractors as fixed-term employees in terms of new employment initiatives that were being introduced by the parastatal.
 

TPT spokesperson and head of safety at Richards Bay, Christina Reddy, agreed that the challenges faced by South Africa’s largest and deepest port were both equipment and service related.

Chief among these was ageing equipment and poor reliability. However, because the port was extremely busy, she said it was difficult to “bring the port to a halt” to refurbish and extend the life of equipment.

However, she acknowledged that it was imperative to ensure reasonable vessel turnaround times as hire charges, at $30 000 a day, were “abusively expensive.”
On the service side, she said good performance offered customers confidence, while consistency offered reliability to clients when chartering vessels. “Machinery breakdowns defeat both of these objectives,” she added.
 

Chetty and dry bulk terminal manager Mandla Mpungose agreed that the port was battling congestion. However, this would be offset through ongoing investment in terms of Transnet’s Market Demand Strategy (MDS).

Chetty said capital investment in the Port of Richards Bay had topped R300-million over the past three years. R7-billion had been set aside for investment at Richards Bay over the next 20 years.

New equipment that had improved operations at the port included a new Sandvik ship loader for bulk exports, a new ALESA ship unloader now stationed at berth 609, two Liebherr 550 mobile cranes at the bulk import berths and a new mobile, rubber-wheeled equipment fleet comprising forklifts, haulers, skips and reach stackers for the break bulk operation.

She said the new equipment was also in place to help alleviate the port’s dust problem.

She added that a great deal of work was being done to improve road access to the port. This included the creation of a truck staging area.

Extensive development of the rail network servicing the port had also begun. This would include building a further rail siding and adding a third tippler, which TPT would operate. This was expected to increase throughput, she said. 
 

Chetty noted that the Port of Richards Bay exported 12.8-million tons of bulk, 7.8-million tons of break bulk and brought in total revenue of R1.4-billion a year.

She pointed out that, while attempting to benchmark the port against others worldwide, it was evident that the dry bulk – or multipurpose – terminal at Richards Bay was very unique and that there were no other multiproduct terminals of its kind.

“Other bulk terminals are amazed at how we cope. Most other bulk terminals are single commodity of group specific, have no self-owned storage or are split up between quayside operations and landside operations.”

The Richards Bay multipurpose terminal handled 33 different commodities, requiring both flexibility and innovation.

The port’s network of conveyor belts handled five different commodities and was linked directly to large plants within the port precinct. It carried 16.4-million tons of bulk goods and accounted for 67% of goods movement within the port. 
 

Chetty said investment in infrastructure was in response to growing dry bulk volumes.

The market for magnetite – the port’s biggest export at 4.9-million tons a year – had grown exponentially and significant volume growth in coal exports, which currently stood at 2.42-million tons a year, was also expected.

Already, there had been growth in chrome ore passing through the port and expansion of current open stockpile facilities had recently been undertaken in response, she said.

She attributed some of the volume growth to industry’s ability to use lower-grade ores. This applied to exports bound for China, in particular.

TPT was also developing its “triangle” open stack area to further increase space.
 

Chetty said that ongoing development was necessary to prepare for other bulk exports that were not currently handled by the port. “We get new cargo requirements constantly.”

She said that, at present, there were sufficient berths to handle current volumes, although there were long-term plans to add further berths at Bayside and on the seven series side. She said they were currently modifying an import berth to accommodate exports.