The Port of Richards Bay is located in
Richards Bay
Richards Bay ( af, Richardsbaai) is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is situated on a 30 square kilometre lagoon of the Mhlatuze River, which makes it one of the country's largest harbours. Richards Bay also has the deepest natural h ...
harbour on the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
coast of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, and contains the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) which is the largest coal export facility in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
Although originally built to handle coal exports, the port has become South Africa's premier bulk port, handling other dry bulk in addition to coal, as well as liquid bulk and breakbulk cargoes.
It is also South Africa's most modern port.
History
The idea for a new harbour north of
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 ...
began as far back as 1902 when a Cathcart W. Methen, Harbour Engineer, Durban, conducted a survey and advised the
Natal Colony
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to ...
government in 1903, that Richards Bay would be a better choice than
St Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...
.
[, ]
The idea was again revised in 1921 when a proposed harbour was investigated by a group of engineers at
Kosi or
Sodwana Bay
Sodwana Bay is a bay in South Africa on the KwaZulu Natal north coast, between St. Lucia and Lake Sibhayi. It is in the Sodwana Bay National Park, and the Maputaland Marine Reserve, and is a popular recreational diving destination. The term is ...
's.
[, ] Sodwana's suitability was again investigated in 1922 by Sir George Buchanan.
[ The two former bays were again investigated in 1923, this time by ]Jan Smuts
Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...
.[ The idea for a northern harbour would again be revisited in the 1950s when Prime Minister ]D.F. Malan
Daniël François Malan (; 22 May 1874 – 7 February 1959) was a South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party implemented the system of apartheid, which enforc ...
visited by air reconnaissance.[ By 1965, the then Minister of Transport ]Ben Schoeman
Barend Jacobus "Ben" Schoeman (19 January 1905 – 2 April 1986) was a South African politician of the National Party prominent during the apartheid era. He served as the Minister of Labour from 1948 to 1954, and the Minister of Transport from ...
decided after visiting Kosi and Sodwana Bay's, that Richards Bay would be the best choice.[ Four reasons were given for the choice. It had a protected bay; the hard material was at a depth allowing the creation of a deep bay; the ability to integrate the existing railway infrastructure and a shorter rail distance to the industrialised ]Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
interior.[
In 1967, surveys began of the 3,050 ha ]lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...
. Aerial photography took place, off-shore soundings were made by the South African Navy's hydrographical department while the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) studied the coastal morphology, collected data on wave heights, directions, tides, currents, sediment transport and studies on river discharge into the lagoon.[, ] Three rivers flowed into the lagoon, the Umhlatuzi, the Nsezi and the Manzamyana with the depth of the water in the lagoon being around a metre.[, ] The ground below the lagoon water was very soft making proposed dredging easier with the hard rock at a depth making the proposed port a deep water harbour.[ The existing sea entrance to the lagoon was found to be a natural underwater gorge that was filled with loose material and so made it ideal as a channel for ships to enter the proposed harbour if two breakwaters were built.][
Despite no harbour or facilities, in January 1969, earthworks began for the building of the Alusaf Smelter, the country's first aluminium smelter.][, ] 2,100,000 m³ of soil was brought into the swampy site and 40 km of piles driven into the ground.[ Concrete pouring began in June 1969 with Aluisse the project managers, Roberts for the construction and Dorman Long the steelworks.][ It would open on 1 April 1971 with initial processing capacity set at 52,000 tons and 300,000 tons if expanded.][ Alumina was imported from Australia and transported by rail to Richards Bay.][
In the middle of 1971, boring tests indicated poor ground in certain areas of the proposed harbour that necessitated changes to the location of some infrastructure.][ By November 1971 the design and construction tenders were released and closed in March 1972.][ May 1972 saw the South African parliament passed an Act that authorised the construction of the harbour.][ Ten tenders were received and a contract was awarded in May 1972 to a Dutch, Belgian and German consortium worth R108,606,402.50 for a period of five years.][ The first stage of development was the construction of quay-walls, to eventually berth bulk-carriers of up to 250,000 tons dw, with the completion deadline being April 1976.][, ]
The Transvaal Coal Owners Association proposed to export coal of 9.1 million tons from the Eastern Transvaal
Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique ...
through the new port to Japan.[ The railway infrastructure needed upgrading or new lines built.][ The current rail line between Ermelo and Vryheid was upgraded and a new 90 km line from Broodsnyersplaas and the coalfields to Ermelo was built.][ The third main upgrade, was a new rail line from ]Vryheid
Vryheid ( zu, IVryheid) is a coal mining and cattle ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Vryheid is the Afrikaans word for "freedom".
History
After Boer farmers, who lived in the Vryheid area, had helped King Dinuzulu defeat his ...
to Empangeni
Empangeni is a city in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is approximately 157 kilometres north of Durban, in hilly countryside, overlooking a flat coastal plain and the major harbour town of Richards Bay 16 kilometres away. The N2 freeway runs east ...
, just outside Richards Bay, which would 210 km in length, with 10.5 km of tunnelling and 67 bridges or viaducts over several rivers including one over the Umfolozi River
The Umfolozi River (also uMfolozi, Imfolozi or Mfolozi) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, a province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black (''Imfolozi emnyama'') and White Umfolozi (''Imfolozi emhlope'') Rivers near the southeast ...
of a 39.6 m span.[
]
Coal terminal
Location
The Richards Bay Coal Terminal is positioned at one of the world's deep sea ports, and is able to handle large ships and subsequent large volumes.
As such, it has gained a reputation for operating efficiently and reliably.
The site currently boasts a quay 2.2 kilometres long with six berths and four ship loaders. Currently, the terminal has a storage capacity of 8.2 million tons of coal and is serviced by seven stacker reclaimers, two stackers and a reclaimer.
Capacity
In September 2006, RBCT set a new world record by loading and exporting 409,809 tons of coal in a 24-hour period at an annualised rate of 149.17 million tons per annum (Mt/a).
Potential throughput is to reach 91 million tons a year by the first half of 2009.
In 2007 annual throughput was 66.12 million tons, despite a capacity of 76 million tons. It was largely due to rail deliveries failing to reach expectations.
Expansion
RBCT commenced its Phase V expansion project in September 2006, which was completed in May 2010 and rose the throughput to the current capacity. Discussion about available export capacity to emerging black coal miners in South Africa is still going on. Therefore, Transnet
Transnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on 1 April 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Departmen ...
and Grindrod started to build up coal export capacity through the Richards Bay Terminal (RBT), the dry bulk terminal of Richards Bay. The capacity of this facility will be increased to 4.5 million tons a year, which will give together with 4 million ton capacity reserved in the RBCT a total capacity of 9.5 million tons a year, which should be sufficient to cover the export needs of the black miners in the next years.
In January 2012, the Swazilink rail project was announced, which would remove general freight traffic from the Richards Bay line and allow more coal trains to Richards Bay Coal Terminal. Completion is foreseen for 2019 or 2020.
References
Notes
Citations
{{Reflist
Richards Bay
Richards Bay
Richards Bay ( af, Richardsbaai) is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is situated on a 30 square kilometre lagoon of the Mhlatuze River, which makes it one of the country's largest harbours. Richards Bay also has the deepest natural h ...
Coal terminals
Transport in KwaZulu-Natal
Buildings and structures in KwaZulu-Natal