The Port of Durban, commonly called Durban Harbour, is the largest and busiest shipping terminal in
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
. It handles up to 31.4 million tons of cargo each year.
It is the fourth largest
container terminal
A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...
in the
Southern Hemisphere, handling approximately 4.5 million
TEU in 2019.
Port statistics
* Durban is the busiest port in South Africa and generates more than 60% of revenue.
* It is the second largest container port in Africa (after
Port Said
Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...
in Egypt).
* It is the fourth largest container port in Southern Hemisphere. (First is
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
in Indonesia, second is
Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
in Indonesia, third is
Santos in Brazil).
* The distance around the port is .
* Rail tracks total .
* The port has 58 berths which are operated by more than 20 terminal operators.
* Over 4,500 commercial vessels call at the port each year.
The port has recently been widened. The harbor entrance depth is now in the approach channel decreasing to 16 metres within the harbour. The navigation width is now .
The port saw a drop of "5 per cent of the liner shipping services, 6.2 per cent of ship calls and 2.8 per cent of the deployed capacity" during the second quarter of 2020 due to the adverse impact of the global
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
However, the maximum capacity of container ships calling at the port increased by 14.5 percent during the same time period.
Port facilities
Berths
* Pier No. 1 Berth
* Pier No. 2 Berth
* Point and T-Jetty Berth
* Cross Berth
* Island View
* Bluff Berth
* Bayhead Berth
* Maydon Wharf Berth
Car terminal
Durban Car Terminal
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
opened in 1998, with a capacity of 60,000 vehicles a year. In 2004 a 100-million-
Rand
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
expansion brought the number of bays to 6,500. This included a 380m bridge linking the terminal to the quayside, improving vessel turnaround time and improving security.
Cruise terminal
MSC Cruises bases the
MSC ''Musica'' in Durban from November to April every year. From the 2019/2020 Southern Africa cruise season MSC Cruises will be basing the newer
MSC ''Orchestra'' in Durban. Many other cruise ships pass through Durban every year, including some of the world's biggest, such as the
RMS ''Queen Mary 2''.
The tender to build the R215 million
Durban Cruise Terminal was awarded to KwaZulu Cruise Terminal (Pty) Ltd which is 70% owned by MSC Cruises SA and 30% by Africa Armada Consortium. The terminal will be able to accommodate two cruise ships at any given time.
Naval facilities
Naval Base Durban
Naval Base Durban in Durban harbour is a naval base of the South African Navy, situated on Salisbury Island, which is now joined to the mainland through land reclamation. It was formerly a full naval base until it was downgraded to a naval statio ...
, situated on
Salisbury Island Salisbury Island may refer to:
* Salisbury Island (California), United States
* Salisbury Island (Nunavut), Canada
*Salisbury Island (Russia)
*Salisbury Island (Western Australia), Australia
*Iona Island (New York), once known as Salisbury Island
...
, is part of the Port of Durban. Established during the Second World War, it was downgraded to a naval station in 2002. In 2012 a decision was made to renovate and expand the facilities back up to a full naval base to accommodate the
South African Navy
The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force.
The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...
's
offshore patrol
The Offshore Patrol (OSP) also known as the Mosquito Fleet was a small naval branch of the United States Army, intended for Littoral zone, inshore defense of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. It was active from February 9, 1939 to June 30, 19 ...
flotilla. In December 2015 it was redesignated a naval base. It is the home port of three
Warrior-class interim
offshore patrol vessel
A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...
s (formerly missile-armed
fast attack craft
A fast attack craft (FAC) is a small, fast, agile, offensive, often affordable warship armed with anti-ship missiles, gun or torpedoes. FACs are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the seakeeping and all-round defensive ...
) which will be replaced by a new patrol flotilla within four to five years.
Expansion plans
In April 2021, South African officials revealed a $7 billion modernization and expansion plan of the port facilities in order to increase efficiency and improve its standing as one of Africa's best and biggest ports.
The program is expected expand port capacity from 2.9 million TEU to more than 11 million TEU by 2031.
The plan has been criticized by labour unions over not being consulted on the construction contracts, and warned that the government's intention to partner with the private sector to complete the expansion could lead to job losses for a highly indebted state-owned company.
See also
*
List of ports of entry in South Africa
This is a list of ports of entry in South Africa.
Airports
Airports with regular scheduled international flights
* Cape Town International Airport (Cape Town)
* King Shaka International Airport (Durban)
* Kruger Mpumalanga International Airp ...
*
2021 Transnet Cyberattack
On 22 July 2021, Transnet became a victim of a ransomware attack. The attack caused Transnet to declare force majeure at several key container terminals, including Port of Durban, Ngqura, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. The attack was the fir ...
References
External links
{{Durban
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
Transport in Durban
Ports and harbours in Africa
Infrastructure in South Africa