Port of Durban to receive new cranes onoard unique vessel

April 7, 2009
Author: Lunga Ngcobo

Durban, 7 April 2009 - When the ZEN HUA No.23 enters Durban harbour on Good Friday, 10 April 2009 (ETA 12h00) it will be one of the larger and certainly the most unique vessels to berth at the port. The vessel left Shanghai, China on 14 March 2009 and will visit Durban to deliver two rail mounted gantry (RMG) cranes for the Pier 1 rail facility.

At 245 metres long with a beam of 40 metres, the vessel, which is purpose-built to transport abnormal project cargo, will provide an interesting new look to the Durban landscape during its six day berth at the port. The RMG cranes are being shipped to Durban already assembled by the Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Company (ZPMC) and the vessel also carries four ship-to-shore (STS) cranes destined for Rotterdam on its next stop.

“There has been extensive communication between ZPMC, Transnet Port Terminals and Transnet National Ports Authority to get permission for this vessel to enter our port,” says Les Biggs, Operations Project Manager at Pier 1 Container Terminal.

“There was reluctance at first to give the go-ahead for the vessel to berth in Durban. This stemmed from concerns around the beam of the vessel being 40 metres wide as well as the overhang of the deck cargo (STS cranes), which could impede the tug operations. Marker buoys in the channel will also have to be moved outward so as not to obstruct tug operations during the arrival and departure of the vessel,” says Biggs.

The vessel will anchor at berth 107 in the port, however given its magnitude, cargo and structure some of the other berths may be affected.

“Berths 105, 106 and 107 total a maximum length of 650 metres and as such due to the manoeuvring of the vessel during the offloading period no other vessels will be allowed to berth behind it,” said Biggs.

He said all other vessels scheduled to arrive on the day were being redirected to the Durban container terminal and the ZEN HUA No.23 would not anchor outside the port but would be given “priority entry” by being allowed to enter the terminal immediately.

Once offloading of the rail cranes commences the ZEN HUA No.23 will ballast or de-ballast to adjust to tidal conditions, allowing the vessel to remain level with the quayside. The purpose-built vessel also comes equipped with its own specialised gear to winch the cranes across a specially designed bridge structure onto the quayside.

The two RMG cranes will be used at the Pier 1 rail facility to transfer containers from internal road vehicles onto rail wagons for import units, or the reverse for export container units.

“Presently the rail wagons are offloaded with reach stackers, which is a slow process. The cranes can accommodate three train sets simultaneously and can travel the full length of the 810 metre facility and load directly onto special purpose trailers, which are then transported direct to the container stacks. This will substantially increase the turnaround of containers to and from the Terminal,” said Biggs.

The cranes, which are manufactured by ZMPC, arrive fully assembled. Following an anticipated six week commissioning process, starting 16 April, they are expected to be fully operational by the end of May.