With South Africa’s largest port, Durban port, having suffered serious damages from the unprecedented floods that have caused extreme challenges in the city, shipping lines expectedly face operation difficulties.
Danish carrier Maersk noted that there is still no access into the terminal and there is evidence of significant damage to Bay Head road, while no trucks can enter or exit the terminal.
“Terminal operations remain on standby with gang availability compromised given restricted access,” said Maersk in its latest update, adding that depot and warehouse operations have also been impacted and are suspended.
Similarly, Hapag-Lloyd said that heavy rainfall and severe flooding in Durban have caused widespread damage and impact to its operations.
The German carrier noted that the landside operations on pier 1 are currently suspended due to blockage in Bayhead Road, while waterside operations resumed on 13 April at 06:00, but are expected to progress slowly due to the landside situation. On pier 2, the landside operations resumed clearing all trucks stuck inside the terminal during the bad weather spell, while the waterside operations were suspended until landside operations are cleared.
Regarding depot operations, Hapag-Lloyd has announced that Kingrest Clairwood, Grindrod Gale Street and DCP remain open, while Kingsrest Bay Head and UCD have been closed.
The largest port operator in the country Transnet, which runs Durban port, has already announced the suspension of its operations across its terminals since 11 April “until further notice”.
Please don’t place that 100 days restriction on yourself, Durban harbour is decimated & the Chinese are on lockdown, small things that might be necessary to eradicate bucket system might not be available. Don’t sabotage self, be realistic. pic.twitter.com/lvBc3dMkwH
— Phulu (@PhulusoGunyukun) April 13, 2022
Essential routes into the Port of Durban, including the coastal N2 highway and the N3 route that links Durban to the commercial hub of Johannesburg, South Africa’s biggest city, were also damaged and closed.
President of the country, Cyril Ramaphosa is visiting Durban today, while the army is preparing to deploy troops to provide assistance.
Your new Toyota might be a bit delayed. #KZNFloods #KZNFlooding #DurbanFloods pic.twitter.com/ftLSYcOjhy
— Man’s NOT Barry Roux (@AdvoBarryRoux) April 13, 2022
