Richards Bay Dry Bulk Terminal breaks record

Oct 14, 2004
Author: SAPO

South African Port Operations Dry Bulk Terminal at Richards Bay has pulled out of a difficult period to break a two-year record for the gross handling of coking coal.

The terminal achieved a rate of 838 tons per hour, which equalled 20,112 tons per day during the discharge of the ship ‘Cape Providence’ recently.

This higher productivity ensured that the ship which discharged a total of 137 086
tons of coking coal completed discharge two days earlier than planned.

With sea freight rates for Cape size vessels reaching a high of $ 60 000 per day (R387 600 per day) it achieved a substantial saving for SAPO’s client Ispat Iscor.

The previous record of 799 ton per hour (19,176 tons per day) was achieved in April 2002.

The achievement comes in the wake of a major project to improve plant reliability and productivity at the Dry Bulk Terminal.

In addition the full co-operation of Indonsa, the stevedore company contracted to SAPO for the coking coal operation, also played an important role in this achievement, said Yunus Ismail acting business unit manager.

Earlier this year the terminal went through a tough period where numerous breakdowns resulted in serious delays at a time when sea freight rates were at an all time high.

"Our CEO Tau Morwe took firm action to improve the situation. This included a appointing a maintenance manager and additional technical staff. Emphasis is also being placed on improving the standard of preventative maintenance at the terminal and ensuring that all equipment complies with the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

"While it will take time to see the full effect of the maintenance drive we believe that we will achieve our goals and that our clients will experience an improvement in service delivery", said Ismail.