South African port operator Transnet Port Terminals achieved record breaking cargo handling productivity with the MSC Sola when it visited the Port of Ngqura recently. The mammoth vessel – at 364 metres long, 45.6 metres wide and 15.5 metres deep – was the biggest container ship to call at a South African port and presented the opportunity for TPT to deploy six ship-to-shore cranes for the first time ever to load and discharge cargo from a single ship.

It had called at the Durban Container Terminal Pier 1 on Thursday, 5 July before sailing on to the deep water Ngqura Container Terminal on Sunday, 8 July.

The Ngqura consignment of 5 408 mainly transhipment containers was the biggest single load to be handled from any vessel calling at the terminal. It comprised 1 872 import and 3 536 export containers.

Terminal Executive for the Eastern Cape Terminals, Siya Mhlaluka, said two of the eight-strong fleet of Liebherr ship-to-shore cranes had only recently been procured and commissioned to cater for the projected growth in the market’s volume demand.

 

With six cranes in use on the first and second days, quayside operators achieved a record breaking Ship Working Hour (SWH) rate, of 153 SWH on day one and 121 on day two. SHW refers to the number of containers moved by the number of cranes working the vessel in one hour.

Two cranes were then transferred to another vessel on day 3. The terminal had its work cut out for it in the final days before the vessel’s departure from the port, when strong winds affected container handling productivity.