Question NW860 to the Minister of Public Enterprises
16 April 2021 - NW860
Chetty, Mr M to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
(1)In view of the delays in the Port of Cape Town’s container terminal that is often as a result of equipment breakdowns, (a) what was the average number of breakdowns experienced in each shift at the Port of Cape Town’s container terminal in 2020; (2 Whether Transnet keeps record of what is causing breakdowns at the Port of Cape Town’s container terminal; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
According to the information received from Transnet:
1. The average number of equipment breakdowns at the Cape Town Container Terminal per shift for the 2020/21 financial year, in respect of all equipment is as follows:
- Shift One = 162 breakdowns per month (April 2020 – March 2021)
- Shift Two = 134 breakdowns per month (April 2020 – March 2021)
- Shift Three = 126 breakdowns per month (April 2020 – March 2021).
2. Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) keeps daily statistical records of the number of equipment breakdowns, the description of each breakdown and the associated outage times. The root cause of these breakdowns is largely attributed to the equipment reaching its mid-life.
There are 8 (eight) Ship-to-Shore Cranes due for mid-life refurbishments and with the high demand for crane density, a new strategic approach to replace all critical components within these cranes is now in place and will take Transnet Port Terminals to the desired reliability of 90% versus the current 85%. To improve the reliability of the Rubber-Tyred Gantry Crane (RTG) fleet, a ramp-up plan has been finalised to move from an average of 20 RTG Cranes to 28 RTG Cranes, within the next 24 months.