Cold Link Africa January February 2026 | Page 15

INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN

PORTS- BUSINESS ANALYSIS

From last place to fast lane: Durban

Port turns the tide By Eamonn Ryan Major improvements in permit turnaround times and container-handling capacity signal a long-overdue revival. On-theground changes at Pier 2 were already evident during Cold Link Africa’ s recent GCCA site visit.

For South Africa’ s cold chain – especially the meat, poultry, pharmaceutical and perishable-foods industries – the revival of Durban’ s port could not be more significant. Faster permit processing, reduced vessel delays and an upcoming digital, paperless system mean refrigerated containers spend less time standing idle, risking temperature deviations, demurrage costs and spoilage. For a country heavily reliant on imported poultry, meat and medicines, Durban’ s improving performance marks a crucial step toward stabilising coldchain reliability through the 2025 / 26 peak season and beyond.

DURBAN CLAWING ITS WAY OFF THE‘ WORLD’ S WORST PORT’ LIST

Ranked last globally by the World Bank in 2024, the Port of Durban appears poised to lift itself off the bottom of the performance rankings. Late 2025 saw the private sector team up with the Border Management Agency( BMA) to tackle bottlenecks and accelerate operational efficiency. Much of this renewed momentum echoes what Cold Link Africa witnessed firsthand during a site visit to Durban’ s Pier 2 last year as part of the GCCA annual conference, where visible investment in equipment, operational restructuring and intensified on-the-ground management efforts were already beginning to take shape.

According to the industry publication Chicken Facts, the reopening of poultry trade with Brazil caused a surge in removalpermit applications at Durban. These permits – essential for releasing imported perishables such as meat – previously took 10 – 12 days to issue. Now, turnaround times have been cut to just 48 hours as at December 2025.

An expanded BMA team cleared the entire backlog in seven days and now processes an average of 118 removal permits daily.

While Durban was ranked dead last out of 403 global ports in the 2024 Container Port Index, port stakeholders argue it was never that bad: the index is narrow, overlooking landside logistics such as trucking, customs and rail connectivity, as well as cost, sustainability and service-quality indicators.

OPERATIONAL TURNAROUND GAINS MOMENTUM

Recent improvements indicate that Durban is serious about shifting off the bottom of the rankings. This momentum is expected to increase as Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services Inc( ICTSI) prepares to assume control of Pier 2 in early 2026. ICTSI brings global experience from ports in Manila, Rio de Janeiro and Melbourne, expertise that will now be applied in Durban.

This follows an October ruling in the

Durban High Court rejecting Maersk’ s attempt to halt Transnet’ s award of a 25- year concession to ICTSI. According to Moneyweb, Andrew Pike of Bowmans, ICTSI’ s attorney, said there is no possibility of further legal appeals.

With legal barriers cleared, ICTSI can finally begin implementing its operational plans at Pier 2, which handles over 60 % of South Africa’ s container traffic.

As more fully described in Cold Link Africa’ s November issue following the site visit, last year billions of rands’ worth of new equipment had already been deployed at Piers 1 and 2, including ship-to-shore cranes, rubber-tyre gantries, straddle carriers, haulers and trailers – all contributing to better ship turnaround times.

Subsequent to that visit, according to Moneyweb, Dylan Govender, head of supply chain at Investec Business Banking, noted that four cranes worth R967-million were deployed in October. The resolution of the court case also unlocks approximately R11.8- billion in further ICTSI investment.

Even before ICTSI’ s arrival, a joint task group has been driving improvements with limited new investment. The group – comprising the BMA, AMIE( Association of Meat Importers & Exporters), SAAFF( Southern African Association of Freight Forwarders), SAEPA( South African Express Parcel Association) and the Pharmaceutical Task Group – was tasked with establishing an operational plan to manage high permit volumes through the busy season to January 2026.

PAPERLESS PERMIT SYSTEM ON THE WAY

The task group is preparing to introduce updated digital workflow systems to monitor application volumes and turnaround stages, allowing earlier identification of bottlenecks. This forms part of a broader transition toward fully online permit processing.

Chicken Facts reports that the digital platform will also offer instant inspection reports and risk-based checks, with a new streamlined process designed to increase transparency, strengthen compliance and reduce delays.

TPT HAULING THE ANCHOR AND DOING THE HEAVY LIFTING

During a recent guided tour led by Timothy Keit, business development representative at Transnet Port Terminals( TPT), it was explained that the Rail Mounted Gantry( RMG) Yard plays a vital role in inland distribution. The yard accommodates trains of up to 100 wagons( 100 TEUs) and is supported by three rail lines. Trains are often broken into smaller blocks for unloading using RMG cranes, enhancing turnaround times.

While straddle carriers used to be the primary mode of transport within the yard, they are increasingly being replaced by haulers for longer-distance movement within the terminal. Straddle carriers, though agile, are limited

Electric points on reefer containers.

Unloading a ship at Durban’ s Pier 2.

in speed and more prone to accidents over longer distances. Haulers, by contrast, offer quicker and safer container transfers across the terminal ' s expansive layout.

Empties are managed separately in topup stacks, where they can be stacked up to three high using straddle carriers. Since South Africa experiences a trade imbalance, more containers leave the country empty than full. Strategic collaboration with shipping lines ensures efficient repatriation of these containers to origin ports.

The port is also working with exporters to fill containers with value-added commodities. However, dangerous goods like manganese cannot be loaded into reefers, posing a further limitation in leveraging all available container types.

MAINTENANCE REALITIES FROM NEGLECT TO RECOVERY

Keit candidly acknowledged a period of neglect: a“ sweating of the assets” mentality resulted in delayed maintenance and mid-life refurbishments. As a result by 2023 the port had 115 straddle carriers but only 40 were operational, with the rest cannibalised for parts. Many of the machines had exceeded their eight-year( 14 000-hour) lifespan.

Since then, TPT has begun refreshing equipment and implementing OEM-backed service plans, akin to a car’ s maintenance agreement, to ensure uptime and reliability. Nevertheless, saltwater corrosion and harsh operating conditions mean ongoing maintenance remains a significant budget and planning item.

The port is still largely powered by dieselelectric equipment. Dedicated fuel browsers supply straddle carriers, and a maintenance workshop – built high to allow access to container-picking arms – handles major repairs.

Automation remains part of the long-term strategy, but for now, manual operations are more cost-effective and reliable given the complexity and unpredictability of Durban’ s container flows.

The port ' s next peak season( August – October) sees a spike in citrus exports, much of it arriving from northern provinces like Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Though Cape Town handles some volumes from the Western and Eastern Cape, Durban’ s cold storage infrastructure makes it the preferred port for many growers.

Bulk break strategies are increasingly used: trains bring reefers from inland to Durban, where cargo is distributed by truck to cold stores before containerisation and export. Keit stressed the need for more rail connectivity, noting that only a handful of such services are currently operational. CLA

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