Shipping companies calling at Cape Town Port had to cough up congestion surcharges of about R2m for most of last year, according to a report compiled by the Western Cape government.
Hefty surcharges are just one of several concerns highlighted in the report, which is based on input from several port stakeholders during a February engagement with the provincial parliament’s standing committee on finance, economic opportunities, and tourism.
Though Transnet says the port’s performance has improved this year, the report details several problems that continue to plague the regional economy, and particularly exporters and importers which are directly affected by port congestion.
“Many exporters were upset because they were getting new contracts from the US; however, they were unable to deliver because vessels were too full,” the report notes. “This was unacceptable. This did not only apply to fruit exports but to manufactured goods as well, which was part of the Growth for Jobs strategy. There was going to be major growth in the manufacturing market; however, if the containers cannot be shipped then the country will lose out on the opportunity.”
The report also notes concern about port congestion surcharges, which are the additional cost of chartering a container vessel due to berthing delays. The 2023 charter rate for container vessels was about $23,639, or $985 (R18,700) per hour, the report says. “The average terminal berthing delay for the Port of Cape Town for the last three quarters was 104 hours (nearly 4.5 days). This meant vessels were looking at a surcharge of $102,000 (R1.9m) without even loading or discharging a single container,” the report notes.
Fortunately there has been a marked improvement in berthing turnaround time, from 215 hours in January to 144 hours at the time of the stakeholder engagement on February 22. “The average waiting time of a berth was impacted by the demand for container services versus the capacity of the terminal,” the report says. “Transnet was well aware of its inefficiencies.”
Average truck turnaround time also improved from 68 minutes to 51 minutes, with average vessel turnaround time reduced from 82 hours to 57 hours. “This was a progressive improvement, though the turnaround time still was not ideal,” the report says.
Improved performance is largely thanks to implementation of Transnet’s eight-point plan which focuses on port efficiency improvement and includes “immediate crisis management”.
The report also details several factors inhibiting Transnet’s success in Cape Town, among them inclement weather and crime. Transnet has commissioned the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to monitor the wind to better predict weather effects caused by climate change. Container terminal operations are not legally permitted if the wind strength exceeds a certain level.
“Transnet was also looking at the effect of fog on marine and cargo operations to mitigate possible negative fog-related incidents,” the report says.
Transnet also faces freight rail problems, worsened by rampant cable theft and sabotage, especially on the line between Belville and Beaufort West. “This has heavily impacted the performance of the freight rail, also impacting traffic approaching the Port of Cape Town. There has been an improvement and work was being done to address the issue, including managing Transnet’s response time and implementing intelligence to security issues,” the report says.
