Tag / Container terminal

by Mike Poverello

Container Port Performance Index 2021

This second edition of the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI), has been produced by the Transport Global Practice of the World Bank in collaboration with the Maritime, Trade and Supply Chain division of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The CPPI is intended to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement that will ultimately benefit all stakeholders from shipping lines to national governments to consumers. The CPPI is intended to serve as a reference point for key stakeholders in the global economy, including national governments, port authorities and operators, development agencies, supranational organizations, various maritime interests, and other public and private stakeholders in trade, logistic, and supply chain services. The CPPI is not intended to cover the entire performance of a port, but to illustrate opportunities for improvement and, hopefully, stimu­late a dialogue among key stakeholders to move this essential agenda forward.

The development of the CPPI rests on total port time in the manner explained in subsequent sections of the report. This second iteration utilizes data for the full calendar year 2021. It includes ports that had a minimum of 20 valid port calls within the 12-month period of the study. Accordingly, the number of ports covered has increased from 351 in CPPI 2020 to 370 in this edition.

The CPPI 2021 has again employed two different methodological approaches, an administrative, or technical, approach, a pragmatic methodology reflecting expert knowledge and judgment, and a statistical approach, using factor analysis (FA). The rationale for using two approaches was to try and ensure that the ranking of container port performance reflects as closely as possible actual port performance, whilst also being statistically robust.

Download the Report Here!

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by Mike Poverello

New terminal at Walvis Bay becomes fully operational

The new container terminal at the Namibian Port of Walvis Bay is now fully operational, according to a report by the African Development Bank (ADB). 

In a statement, the ADB said the terminal was built on constructed on 40 hectares of land reclaimed from the ocean by China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) as part of a project worth $300 million. 

It will, according the the bank, turn Walvis Bay into becoming a logistics hub for southern Africa to meet the growing regional demand for freight and provide maritime access for landlocked countries of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).

The African Development Bank provided a ZAR 2,982 million ($178 million) loan representing over 70% of the project funding.

The works included the dredging over 3.9 million cubic metres of sand, used partly for the reclamation, construction of a 600-metre quay wall, the laying of 304,000 square metres of paved surface and the construction of a workshop and administrative buildings. 

It also entailed the installation of four ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, the construction of a one-kilometre road, the laying of 2.3 km of rail lines, and the installation of service networks. The facility’s electricity supply was also successfully upgraded, the report noted.

“Overall, the project has fully achieved its goals,” the report said, increasing the terminal’s capacity from 355,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent unit) to 750,000 TEUs yearly. It has also reduced vessel waiting time to less than 8 hours and cut container transit time from 14.5 days to 9.5 days. 

Expanded activities required the training of seven pilots and 26 ship-to-shore crane operators, including one woman.

The demand for services from the port of Walvis Bay has increased by about 8% following the commissioning of the new terminal, the report notes. Cargo volumes, revenues and income from other services (maritime, port, berth and light dues, and other storage and handling fees) are expected to increase by at least 8% in 2020 and 2021. After that, growth should reach 5% yearly the report projects.

The project completion reporting team was led by Richard Malinga, Bank Principal Transport Engineer and Task Manager for the project.

The Walvis Bay expansion aligns with the Bank’s High-5 strategic priorities, including promoting the integration of Africa.

Source: Porttechnology, 11 September 2020

by Mike Poverello

CargoSmart – Pilots Innovative Cargo Release Application in Shanghai

CargoSmart Limited, a leading shipment management technology solutions provider, announced that it conducted a pilot project with COSCO SHIPPING LINES (COSCO), Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG), and Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) for a new application to transform the cargo release process. It is among the first pilot projects with an ocean carrier conducting a real-time exchange of shipment data with a terminal operator through blockchain. The pilot not only demonstrated the benefits of having a single, trusted source of truth in cargo documentation, but also the efficiency gains for industry participants. Such an application will undoubtedly accelerate the digitalization of shipping industry processes and the further optimization of currently stressed global supply chains. The application will be further developed for participants of the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) blockchain consortium, once it is officially established. 

The pilot project was designed to minimize consignee and shipping agent verification steps with their ocean carriers in order to speed up the release of sea waybills. As a result, truckers are able to pick up their cargo at the terminal faster, helping shippers meet delivery windows and ensure that service quality and customer commitments are met. 

During the pilot in December 2019, COSCO and SIPG streamlined the cargo release process by enabling Tesla to accelerate its cargo pick up procedures on a trusted and secure platform (related post on COSCO’s official WeChat account). The pilot also allowed SIPG to view a single, trusted source of COSCO’s sea waybill data, enabling faster preparation of delivery orders for consignees and their shipping agents. In late March 2020, CargoSmart further enhanced the application to display laden gate out, appointment date, and terminal release, enabling shippers to have better visibility of their cargoes. 

Henry Huang, Executive DGM of Operation & Business Department of SIPG, said, “The pilot is a key component of our journey towards paperless, trusted, and seamless trade processes at the Port of Shanghai, and it demonstrates the benefits for supply chain stakeholders around the world. We look forward to extending the collaboration with more supply chain stakeholders to render extraordinary service to our community.”  

Wu Yu, General Manager of Business Process & System Division of COSCO said, “The pilot with SIPG and CargoSmart showcased significant efficiency gains not only in the cargo release process, but also for downstream supply chain planning by presenting a single source of truth for documentation for all involved parties. We look forward to more blockchain-based applications that can create value for customers and the industry alike.”  

Expanding Value to More Carriers and Terminals 

The successful pilot has proven that the unique collaboration model between ocean carriers and terminal operators is able to create benefits for stakeholders along the global supply chain. Leveraging this successful experience, the cargo release application is expected to further promote carrier-terminal data exchange and streamline operations. It is envisaged that this application will unleash the full potential of the proposed GSBN platform once it is established, subject to the requisite regulatory approvals. 

As preparations continue for the future formation of the GSBN, contingent upon securing required regulatory approvals, CargoSmart will conduct similar pilots with Xiamen Ocean Gate Container Terminal Co., Ltd. (XOCT) and other terminal operators such as those at the Port of Qingdao in China and the Port of Laem Chabang in Thailand.  The objective is to broaden the scope of the pilot by involving more carriers and terminals, and eventually extending the pilot to other industry participants in the near future. To further enhance the value of the pilot application, CargoSmart will enable APIs to explore and test ways to extend visibility to shippers for greater efficiencies throughout the cargo release process. 

Source: CargoSmart.ai, 7 April 2020

by Mike Poverello

Namibia’s New Container Terminal – 76 % Complete

project-walvis-bay-container-710Namibia’s 344 million U.S. dollars container terminal currently under construction in its coastal town of Walvis Bay is 76 percent complete, the Namibian Port Authority (Namport) said Thursday.

According to a statement issued by Namport, the contract is on schedule for completion of most of the works at the end of 2018 with minor works to be completed early 2019.

One of the major components of the projects is the commissioning of four new Ship Container Cranes (STS), making it the first time that these cranes will be deployed in the port of Walvis Bay.

Namport has to date made use of mobile cranes to load and offload containers from vessels.

The 4 STS cranes are expected to arrive from China on February 10, 2018.

The project which commenced in May 2014 with the contractor being China Harbor Engineering Company Limited will have a throughput capacity of 750,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) per annum.

The new port will also be connected to the existing port’s road and rail networks as well as communication systems. Source: Xinhuanet 2018-02-01

by Mike Poverello

Nigeria – President cautions Customs and Port authorities over Dry Port facility

Kaduma Dry Port

On Thursday, 4 January 2018, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, inaugurated the Kaduna Inland Dry Port and warned the Nigeria Customs Service and port officials against frustrating the effective use of the facilities. Inaugurating the facilities in Kaduna, Buhari said the customs and the port officials must make the facilities work and not to frustrate business, commercial and industrial enterprises with unnecessary bureaucracy.

It remains for Customs and Ports officials to make these facilities work and not to frustrate business, commercial and industrial enterprises with unnecessary bureaucracy and inflicting on them delays and hardships, thereby defeating the object of the whole exercise as has happened in the past.

According to him, the hinterland business community has waited for too long for such facility that has tremendous potentials to ease the way of doing international business for the interior based importers and exporters. He said that the development of Inland Dry Ports was an important factor in the nation’s economic development efforts.

As Ports of origin for exports and ports of destination for imports, the Inland Dry Ports will accelerate the implementation of our economic diversification policy. “The concept of Inland Dry Port has gained widespread importance with the changes in international transportation as a result of the container revolution and the introduction of door-to-door delivery of cargo.

It provides importers and exporters located within the nation’s hinterland, especially industrial and commercial outfits, access to shipping and port services without necessarily visiting the seaports. “It also enables them to process clearance of their import cargo and take delivery of their raw materials and machinery close to their places of business.

President Buhari also said that the Dry Ports would provide exporters the much-needed facilities to process, package, consolidate and forward their exports to their customers all over the world without having to physically be at the seaports. According to him, this replicates the port economy in the various centres where the Dry Ports are located inland thereby generating employment and contributing to the ease of doing business.

He said in addition to the Kaduna Inland Dry Port, six other Inland Dry Ports in Ibadan, Aba, Kano, Jos, Funtua and Maiduguri, which had also been gazetted, were at various stages of completion. He congratulated the Kaduna State Government, the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigerian Shippers’ Council as well as the hinterland importers and exporters on the inauguration of the facilities.

The president also commended the initiative of Nigerian Shippers’ Council towards promoting the provision of these modern transport infrastructural facilities. He, however, urged the Concessionaires of the other six Dry Ports to emulate the Concessionaires of the Kaduna Dry Port by accelerating work on theirs so as to ensure speedy completion of the projects.

He said that with the full complement of the seven Dry Ports, congestion at the seaport and traffic gridlock in the port complex would be eliminated.

“Consequently, the cost of transportation and cost of doing business will be reduced,’’ he said. He lauded the efforts of the Kaduna state government for facilitating the establishment of Kaduna Inland Dry Port.

According to him, the provision of access roads and other utilities to the Dry Port by Kaduna State Government is worthy of emulation by the other Dry Ports host State Governments.

He urged relevant stakeholders across the public and private sectors, particularly Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Shipping Companies and Agencies, Seaport Terminal Operators, Clearing and Forwarding Agents, Road Haulers and importers and exporters to utilize the facility optimally. Source: article originally published by Vanguard (Nigeria), 4 January 2018

by Mike Poverello

Port of Shanghai Port Sets New World Record

Port of Shanghai

The port of Shanghai has set a new world record by handling over 40 million TEUs.

On December 10, 2017, Shanghai Yangshan Deep Water Port, the world’s biggest automated container terminal, started trial operations.

Shanghai Port started container handling in 1978 with a capacity of 7,951 TEUs. In 2010, the port overtook the Port of Singapore to become the world’s busiest container port, and in 2011 throughput exceeded 30 million TEUs. In 2016, Shanghai set a record by handling over 37 million TEUs.

Shanghai aims to become China’s leading international shipping, aviation and railway hub by 2040. The city has also set a goal of handling 45 million TEUs in Shanghai ports by 2040. Shanghai Yangshan deep water port and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port will be central to achieving the target, along with other ports including Hangzhou Bay and Chongming Island. Source: Maritime Executive, 1 January 2018

by Mike Poverello

Shanghai – World’s Largest Automated Terminal Begins Trials

Shanghai Yangshan Deep-Water Port’s Phase IV container terminal started its trial operations last Sunday. The 550-acre, $1.8 billion facility is the latest expansion of the Port of Shanghai’s complex on Yangshan Island, which has deeper water than the port operator’s mainland terminals.

The Port of Shanghai is already the busiest for container traffic in the world, handling a record 37 million TEU in 2016, and the new automated Phase IV terminal will cement its leading position with an additional seven berths and 4-6 million TEU of capacity. Phase III began operations in 2008, but the global financial crisis delayed construction of the long-planned Phase IV until 2014.

According to Chinese state media, Phase IV is the world’s largest automated container terminal, with computer-controlled bridge cranes, AGVs and rail-mounted gantry cranes. All of the equipment is Chinese-made, and the facility also uses a Chinese-designed automated terminal management system. About 100 out of a total of 280 pieces of the automated equipment have already been delivered and are in testing.

“The automated terminal not only increases the port’s handling efficiency, but also reduces carbon emissions by up to 10 percent,” said Chen Wuyuan, president of Shanghai International Port Group, speaking to Xinhua.

Yangshan is the biggest deepwater port in the world. Phase I was finished in 2004, and the following year construction wrapped up on a 20-mile, six-lane bridge to connect the facility to the mainland. Extensive land reclamation allowed for the construction of Phases I through III on new ground adjacent to the islands of Greater and Lesser Yangshan, which were previously home to small fishing communities.

The port handles about 40 percent of Shanghai’s exports, and its operators hope to see it grow as a transshipment hub as well. As of 2016, it operates under a free trade zone status, which speeds up customs procedures and facilitates transferring or storing foreign-origin cargoes. Source: Maritime Executive, 11 December, 2017. Pictures: China State Media

by Mike Poverello

Transnet Seeks Private Sector Participation for new Inland Terminal

Tambo SpringsSouth Africa’s freight and logistics company Transnet this week launched its massive drive to bring private sector operators into the country’s freight system.

The company has issued a request for proposals inviting suitably qualified global logistics service providers to design, build, operate, maintain and eventually hand over its proposed inland container terminal in Tambo Springs, East of Johannesburg – a 630ha site located on land originally known as Tamboekiesfontein farm.

The concession will be over a 20-year period and will be Transnet’s biggest private sector participation project to date.

The proposed terminal is in line with Transnet’s drive to migrate rail friendly cargo off the country’s road network.

The terminal is expected to be in operation by 2019 and will have an initial capacity of 144 000 TEUs per annum, with an option to ramp it up to 560 000 TEUs, depending on demand.

The project entails the following:

  • Arrival and departure yard for handling cargo trains
  • Terminal infrastructure;
  • Terminal equipment;
  • Stacking area;
  • Warehousing space
  • Distribution centre
  • Inland Reefer facilities

Transnet Freight Rail will be responsible for the operation of the arrival and departure yard required to service the terminal.

The operator will be responsible for loading and offloading of containers and marketing of the facility. The winning bidder is expected to introduce new entrants – particularly black players – must have demonstrated technical expertise, a minimum of level 4 BBBEE status with a commitment to reach level 2 by the third year of operation.

Transnet currently operates 5 inland terminals in Gauteng, including the City Deep Container Terminal in Johannesburg, Africa’s largest inland port.

The proposed terminal is an integral part of the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Committee’s SIP 2, aimed at unlocking the country’s industrial development while boosting export capability. It is designed to complement Transnet’s container-handling capacity in the province.

This is the culmination of years of hard work and a demonstration of cooperative governance between Transnet, representing the national competence, and both the Gauteng Provincial Government and the Ekurhuleni Municipality.

The Tambo Springs terminal is one of three mega terminals that Transnet is planning to build in Gauteng over the next 20 years. It will be located in Ekurhuleni along the N3, just off the Natal Corridor.

The project is expected to create 50 000 jobs, and has stringent requirements for supplier development and skills transfer. Source: Transnet

by Mike Poverello

Walvis Bay rail upgrade ready to service new container terminal

Namport-rail-upgradeThe Namibian Ports Authority has completed the upgrade of all railway infrastructure at the Port of Walvis Bay at a cost of N$20M (US$1.3M)

The work was included in Namports maintenance programme in 2010, but is now part of wider plans to upgrade facilities at Walvis Bay in preparation for the completion of the new container terminal.

A total of 4.5kms of track inside the port and the section of railway running from the city into the port have been replaced using material that can cope with heavier loads.

A spokesperson for Namport said: “Although the project was of relatively low value, its execution was complex as we had to ensure minimum operational interruption to the track, which is in daily use.”

The new container terminal is being constructed on 40-ha of reclaimed land and will add 700,000 TEU of annual handling capacity to the existing 350,000 TEU. Walvis Bay is already attracting bigger ships and recently handled its biggest ever container vessel the CMA CGM DANUBE, a 112,580 dwt vessel with a nominal intake of 9200 TEU.

A statement from Namports read: “The visit of CMA CGM DANUBE complements our port expansion project, which accommodates greater carrying capacity. Following the completion of the port expansion project vessels such as this will be accommodated at the new container terminal.”

The Walvis Bay Corridor Group, which was set up to promote the use of the port among neighbouring states, is keen to improve ancillary infrastructure at Walvis Bay to make the most of the new terminal.

Namport manager for corporate communication Taná Pesat said: “The benefits are our safe and secure corridors to and from landlocked SADC markets. The frequency of direct ship calls and flexibility of doing business with ease.”

However, the plot of land at the port given to Zimbabwe in 2009 for the construction of a dedicated dry port has still not been developed. Source: World Cargo News

by Mike Poverello

Singapore Builds Transshipment Capacity

PSA Singapore Terminals

Two new container berths capable of serving large container ships will be operated by COSCO-PSA Terminal in Singapore in 2017.

COSCO-PSA Terminal (CPT), a joint venture company formed by COSCO Pacific Limited and PSA Corporation, is investing in the new berths, and will move from its current two-berth terminal to three new mega berths as part of a Pasir Panjang Terminal expansion project.

A few of the planned 15 berths in Phases 3 and 4 of the Pasir Panjang Terminal are already operational. The rest of the S$3.5 billion ($2.6 billion) project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017, pushing Singapore’s annual container handling capacity to 50 million TEUs.

All the new berths at Pasir Panjang Terminal are designed to be able to handle container ships with capacities larger than 10,000 TEUs.

PSA Singapore currently operates 57 berths at its container terminals in Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, Brani and Pasir Panjang. The terminals at Pasir Panjang are PSA’s most advanced. The berths at Pasir Panjang Phases 3 and 4 are up to 18 meters deep and equipped with quay cranes able to reach across 24 rows of containers to serve the world’s largest container ships. They also feature the latest port innovations such as a zero-emission, fully-automated electric yard crane system.

Singapore is the world’s second busiest container port after Shanghai in China, which took over Singapore in 2010. Source: Maritime Executive

by Mike Poverello

Africa to Get First Automated Container Terminal

MarEx APM Tangier 2016Maritime Executive reports that the world’s third largest port operator APM Terminals said it will invest 758 million euros ($858.3 million) in a new transhipment terminal in Tangier, Morocco, that will be the first automated terminal in Africa.

APM Terminals, a unit of Denmark’s shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk, has been named as the operator of the new container transshipment terminal at the Tanger Med 2 port complex. The group already operates the APM Terminals Tangier facility at Tanger Med 1 port, which started operations in July of 2007 and handled 1.7 million TEUs in 2015. The new terminal will have annual capacity of five million TEUs.

Maersk Line, also a part A.P. Moller-Maersk, will be an important customer of the new terminal. The new terminal is scheduled to open in 2019, under the terms of a 30-year concession agreement with the Tanger Med Special Agency (TMSA), which has responsibility for the development and management of the Tanger Med port complex.

The Tanger-Med port complex is strategically located on Africa’s northwest coast near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea on the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea meet. Tanger-Med is the second-busiest container port on the African continent after Port Said, Egypt. The new APM Terminals MedPort Tangier terminal will increase the port’s total annual throughput capacity to over nine million TEUs.

APM Terminals MedPort Tangier will have up to 2,000 meters of quay length and will feature the technology pioneered at the APM Terminals Maasvlakte II Rotterdam terminal which opened in 2015.

For APM Terminals the Western Mediterranean is an important market. APM Terminals Algeciras, on the Spanish side of the Strait of Gibraltar, operates in tandem with APM Terminals Tangier as an integrated Western Mediterranean transshipment hub. APM Terminals Algeciras handled more than 3.5 million TEUs in 2015, and has completed a major upgrading of its cranes and quay infrastructure to accommodate ultra-large container Ships of 18,000 TEU capacity and above.

The location of the Tangier and Algeciras facilities provide a natural transshipment location for cargoes moving on vessels to and from Africa from Europe and the Far East on the primary East/West shipping route through the Mediterranean Sea; over 200 cargo vessels pass through the Strait of Gibraltar daily on major liner services linking Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa.

While African ports at present account for only 4.5 percent of global port throughput (including transshipment cargoes), the United Nations 2015 World Population Prospects Report projects that more than half of the world’s population growth between 2015 and 2050 will occur in Africa, with the African population more than doubling from 1.1 billion to 2.4 billion over the next three and a half decades.

Significant investment in port and transportation infrastructure will be required to meet the anticipated needs of the expanding African population and corresponding economic growth.

APM Terminals is the largest port and terminal operating company in Africa by equity-weighted container volume, with 12 facilities operating in 10 countries and three more terminals under construction. Source: Maritime Executive

by Mike Poverello

Aerial view of Rotterdam Container Terminal

Aerial view of Rotterdam Container Terminal

The Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, is the largest port in Europe covering 105 square kilometers. (Picture: Benjamin Grant/Google Earth/Digital Globe)

by Mike Poverello

Namport container terminal takes shape

namport-expansionConstruction of the N$3 billion container terminal at Walvis Bay is taking shape with over 1.5 million cubic metres of land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which is constructing the terminal, says the work is on schedule for completion in 2017.

“We understand the importance of the project not only for Namibia but for Africa as a continent and therefore we are fully committed to deliver a state-of-the-art project at the end,” said CHEC’s acting project manager, Feng Yuan Fei.

The expansion includes the construction of a modern container terminal, adding 600m of quay length to the existing 1500m and 650 000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) per annum capacity to the existing 350 000 TEU. The Namibia Port Authority (Namport) port engineer, Elzevir Gelderbloem, said Namport is happy with the progress made so far.

“It took us nine years to get to the construction phase of the project. Such projects take time to implement and we hope our next projects will be much quicker. However, we have no dry land to expand as the harbour is completely boxed in by the town, but with the current project we are creating more land in water. This type of expansion is unique and feasible for a container terminal.

“It’s the kind of construction that has never been used in the country but will improve our port services at least until 2020 when we will have to undergo the same process again,” he said.

Reclamation of the land is scheduled for completion in February next year, after which the next phase is to complete the quay walls by April and then the construction of revetment by August in the same year. Erection of revetment involves the layering of different rock such as armour core rock, mixed filter layer, geotextile, and crushed stone layers to create a wall around the reclaimed land. More than 400 000 cubic metres of rock will be needed for revetment.

Feng said he was confident they would comfortably meet the deadline to complete the revetment in August next year. “We also created a sandbag cofferdam, which prevents the dredged material and muddy water from overflowing during the process of reclamation,” he said. Source: New Era newspaper

by Mike Poverello

Port of Shanghai – extends its lead as world’s busiest container port

Port of Shanghai, China [Picture: DaliyMail.co.uk]

Port of Shanghai, China [Picture: DaliyMail.co.uk]

Shanghai retained its title as the world’s busiest container port for a fifth consecutive year after widening the gap with its closest rival Singapore.

Singapore handled 33.9 million 20-foot containers last year, according to a statement posted on the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore’s website dated Jan. 16. Last month, Shanghai said it expects to process about 35.2 million boxes in 2014. A year before, the gap between the two ports was about 1 million boxes.

Shanghai, Shenzhen and other ports in China are dominating the global container-shipping market while the facility in Ningbo overtook South Korea’s Busan last year as the world’s fifth-busiest harbor. Seven of the world’s 10 top container ports were in China in 2013, with Hong Kong coming in fourth.

Shipping companies are adding larger container ships to meet demand as economic growth helped consumers to spend more money on clothes and food. Global trade last year probably grew 3.8 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Global containerized trade reached 124 million boxes in the first 11 months of 2014, an increase of 4.3 percent from 118.9 million a year ago, according to Container Trade Statistics Ltd.

Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co., the world’s second-largest container shipping company, currently operates the biggest vessel that can carry 19,224 boxes between Asia and Europe. Last year, China Shipping Container Lines Co. launched a ship that could carry about 19,100 containers. Source: Bloomberg/GCaptain

by Mike Poverello

State-of-Art Port Control Centre opens in Cape Town

Inter-Departmental CooperationSouth Africa’s first maritime port of entry control centre represents a milestone in the country’s journey to secure, modernise and control its borders, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said at the opening of the centre at Cowrie Port in Cape Town harbour last week on Friday.

The centre puts all the government departments and agencies involved in immigration and border control under one roof. These include the departments of home affairs, health, agriculture and fisheries, the SA Police Service (border police and crime intelligence), and the SA Revenue Service (Customs). The state-of-the-art centre would not only improve security and immigration issues, but would also serve to enhance trade and South Africa’s status as a logistical gateway to Africa, Gordhan said.

Trade

The rationale behind the centre was in line with the National Development Plan, the minister said. Among other things, the NDP aims to stimulate growth by lowering the cost of doing business in South Africa, improving the country’s competitiveness and exports, and linking local products with other emerging markets. Gordhan said the fast-growing markets of Africa represented important new markets, and the NDP was committed to increasing South Africa’s trade with its regional neighbours from 15% to 30%.

‘Complex borders’

Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor, also speaking at Friday’s opening, said the centre had been designed “to accommodate in one spot not only customs, excise and immigration, but also health, safety and intelligence.

“Ports are complex borders to manage. Cowrie Place will provide the space and facilities to manage passengers and cargoes more efficiently than before.” Pandor said the government hoped to establish a border management agency by the end of 2016, taking advantage of the lessons learnt from Cowrie Place. A flagship feature of Cowrie Place is the co-ordination monitoring centre, where the data and information will be fed, assimilated and made available to all government department and agencies involved in the maritime border management.

“For the bona fide tourist or member of the trade community, this will mean better service,” Gordhan said. “For those who intend to challenge the laws of our country, be warned, as we intend to raise the bar of compliance by an order of magnitude.”

Important port

Cape Town’s port is oldest in South Africa, but despite changes to its maritime culture brought by air travel and containerisation, it is still an important point of entry. The port processes more than 870 000 containers as well as nearly 730 000 tons of dry bulk per annum, Pandor said.

A total of 6 173 commercial vessels and 55 passenger vessels entered and/or left the port in 2013, while more than 62 000 people entered and/or departed from Cape Town harbour. Pandor said E-berth at the harbour would be developed into a fully fledged passenger liner terminal to complement Cowrie Place.