By Bob Kernohan

Sentiment on the future of Mandela Bay as a key maritime centre was lifted sky-high on Tuesday when a further R270-million investment in the growing capacity of the Port Elizabeth harbour was confirmed.

The good news was delivered at the official commissioning of a R90-million high-tech crane by Transnet‘s port operations (TPO) executives, who also revealed that improved productivity and rising demand at the harbour had led to the ditching a few years ago of a proposal to close it and transfer operations to the new port of Ngqura.

“Port Elizabeth will be the only city in the country with two major harbours,” TPO chief operations officer Solly Letsoalo said at the ceremony.

The huge crane, the red-and- white striped superstructure of which stands 50 metres high and is a new city landmark was built in Killarney in Ireland by specialist company Liebherr and shipped to Port Elizabeth at the end of last year. It was then erected and underwent stringent pre-operation tests before being fully commissioned.

Letsoalo said the total cost of the crane was in the region of R90-million, with the equipment price being R70-million and shipping, training and new facility costs adding about R20-million. “It‘s part of a R10,4-billion investment Transnet is making in the PE harbour and in establishing the deep-water port of Ngqura. Three similar cranes will be installed in the harbour in the next two years, while a number will be located at the new port before it is commissioned in October next year.”

Letsoalo also revealed that a proposal to close a large part of the PE harbour had been considered when the Ngqura project was approved, but because of increased demand and the high rates of productivity achieved in the existing harbour this proposal had been ditched.

Source: The Herald