Name of the Project
Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2.

Location
Port of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Transnet initiated a private-sector participation process for DCT Pier 2 in 2021 and has selected International Container Terminal Services Incorporated (ICTSI), of the Philippines, as the preferred bidder.

Transnet Port Terminals, which will hold 50% plus one share in the partnership, believes ICTSI will help improve the terminal’s performance and reposition DCT for growth.

The partnership is expected to make investments to improve the terminal’s performance and increase its capacity once the transaction is concluded. It is expected that the partnership will be operating by April 1, 2024, and will operate for 25 years. The partnership could be extended to 30 years, should the berth deepening of the North Quay at Pier 2, on which a proposed expansion of the terminal’s capacity depends, is delayed.

Project Description
The partnership aims to boost the operating performance of South Africa’s biggest container terminal, which handles 72% of the Port of Durban’s throughput and 46% of the country’s overall port traffic.

DCT Pier 2 has a container capacity of two-million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The partnership aims to increase the facility’s capacity to 2.8-million TEUs, including through the berth deepening of the North Quay at Pier 2.

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) is responsible for deepening the berth from 12.8 m to 16.5 m to enable the terminal to accommodate three 350 m vessels at Berth 205, which would carry average consignments of up to 12 000 TEUs in a single call. TNPA will issue a tender for the deepening in the coming months.

This is aligned with plans by the TNPA to increase the current container capacity in the Port of Durban from 3.3 million TEUs to an eventual envisaged capacity of 11.4-million TEUs.

Potential Job Creation
There will be no retrenchments, and employees will retain the same terms and conditions before and after the introduction of the private-sector partner.

Capital Expenditure
No capital investment figure has been disclosed.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Transnet, tel +27 11 308 3001 or email mediadesk@transnet.net.