Bay containers shipshape for global business

DESPITE serious concern by local port users to meet the strict 1 July SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) deadline, all containers have so far left the Richards Bay harbour without incident.

The amended SOLAS international maritime treaty requires that the weight of export containers are verified before being loaded onto ships.

This ruling followed a series of major maritime disasters, including the capsizing of MV Deneb in 2011 in Spain and MSC Napoli in 2007 in the English Channel, believed to be the consequences of wrongly declared container weights.

Mobile container weighing company Conweigh further reported that on average 1 679 containers are lost at sea each year.

Since Friday, 13 boxes have left the Richards Bay Transnet Port Terminal (TPT) without any hiccups.

‘The Implementation of SOLAS at the Port of Richards Bay has officially gone live with the first vessel handled being the MV Green Mountain,’ said Richards Bay TPT Corporate Affairs Manager Mfundo Ndwandwe.

‘The customer fully complied with all the requirements and TPT Customer Services has continued engagements with all customers to ensure full compliance with the SOLAS regulations.

‘A national support team has also been established to address any issues faced by customers at the various terminals.’

Lead project member of the SOLAS initiative at TPT, Zeph Ndlovu, said a forum with major industry players was formed last Tuesday to iron out problems prior to the deadline.

‘The participation of representatives from SAMSA (South African Maritime Safety Authority), Inttra (e-commerce cargo booking portal), the South African Fruit Growers and Transnet Freight Rail collaborated prior to the deadline to ensure an effortless transition.

‘These online forums continued to post the deadline to assist clients with adjusting to the VGM (verified gross mass) enforcements. The IMO guidelines are clear that the shipper is responsible for providing the VGM sufficiently in advance of loading the container aboard a vessel.’

To improve Richards Bay’s container services, the two mobile cranes that the Transnet National Ports Authority promised to transfer from Durban at a business-to-business meeting in April, are expected to arrive at the end of this month.

These cranes will double capacity from 25 000 twenty-foot equivalent units to 50 000.

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