The port of Durban operates on a common user basis and consists of five business units managed by Transnet Port Terminals or TPT [formerly known as SA Port Operations (SAPO)] - Durban Container Terminal (Africa’s busiest), Pier 1 Container Terminal, Multi Purpose Terminal (also known as the City Terminal), Durban Car Terminal (three berths), and Maydon Wharf Terminal.
There are a number of other terminals in the port which are managed and operated by private companies, including the Bluff Coaling Terminal known as Bulk Connections, the large Island View oil and petroleum complex, often referred to as the Cutler Complex or simply as Island View, the Fresh Produce Terminal at the T-Jetty and another fruit terminal at Maydon Wharf, the Sugar Terminal and Wood Chip Terminal on Maydon Wharf, SA Bulk Terminals (Rennies) on both Maydon Wharf and Island View, in addition to a number of other private facilities mostly at Maydon Wharf.
The port has a well-equipped passenger terminal at N-berth on the T-Jetty for the convenience of cruise ships, which operate mostly during the summer months between November and May. The ‘resident’ cruise ship during the 2009/10 season will be the MSC SINFONIA but during the 2010 FIFA World Soccer Cup tournament several cruise ships will remain in Durban to be used as floating hotels. These and other cruise ships make use of one or more berths as required and at times the port can have as many as three cruise ships in port together. Long-term plans foresee a new cruise terminal being built at A berth on the Point, near the Point Waterfront.
Extensive ship repair facilities consist of a graving dock divided by two compartments with a total length of 352.04m and a width of 33.52m at the top, split into an inner dock of 138.68m and an outer dock of 206.9m and serviced by up to five electric cranes from 50t to 10t. Not all the cranes are in use or service-able. Emptying time for the graving dock is 4 hours. There are proposals to build a private dry dock at the Dormac Marine shipyard.
In addition to the above mentioned dock the port of Durban has three floating docks - one operated by Transnet NPA with an overall length of 109m, a width of 23.34m and a displaced lifting capacity of 4,500 tonnes, serviced by two 5-tonne capacity cranes. The second floating dock, known as Eldock, is operated by Messrs Elgin Brown & Hamer and is currently the only privately owned floating dock in South Africa (Elgin operates two similar floating docks at Walvis Bay, known as Namdock 1 and Namdock 2). Eldock has a length of 155m, a width of 23.5m and a lifting capacity of 8,500t. The third floating dock, a smaller unit of 50m length is due to arrive in Durban during June and will be utilised initially as a launch vessel for the fleet of new tugs being built at SA Shipyards. This dock may be introduced for small ship repairs at a later date.
VISION
Transnet is a focused freight transport company delivering integrated, efficient, safe, reliable and cost-effective services to promote economic growth in South Africa.
MISSION
We seek to achieve this by increasing our market share, improving productivity and profitability, and by providing appropriate capacity to our customers ahead of demand.
