AFRICA

Durban port expansion sorely needed

20 years ago

Durban Port manager Basil Ndlovu has said that throughput growth of 16%18% annually over the last five years means that the proposed ¢ 1.72bn expansion into the Bayhead area of the port must start as soon as possible.

The plan, for which environmental impact studies have not yet been completed, involves the creation of a new basin capable of turning 9,000 teu vessels.

Existing box handling facilities at the port will be saturated by 2010. In 2005, 9,973 vessels called at Durban, even though forecasts had suggested that just 8,700 vessels would call.