Extreme weather cripples CT port

Extreme weather conditions have wreaked havoc in Cape Town over the past month. Relentless and excessive gale force winds, fog, extreme heat and humidity and a spate of mountain fires caused operational breakdowns in the port while the Table Mountain cable car was closed continuously for four hours in what was described as the worst wind in a decade. Fresh produce exporter Peter Newton was irate to discover on the morning of December 31 that only one (rather than the three) straddles was working the West Coast reefer stack. He fired off a complaint to Cape Town’s TPT chief operations manager, Brenda Magqwaka, who denied the charge. TPT’s regional executive, Velile Dube, has raised the concerns of the local shipping community about the ability of the new rubber-tyre gantries (RTGs) to work in the Mother City’s winds with manufacturer Kalmar. The total number of December wind stoppages and vessel delays could not be ascertained due to the Christmas shut-down but Maersk Dryden, a December 27 arrival, only berthed on January 6, registering a total delay of 235.33 hours. Likewise, the Cooper River Bridge berthed five days after arrival, delayed for 123.25 hours. Safmarine says the wind affected not only its cargo operations but also the sailing and berthing of vessels.