• $56M upgrade aims to ease congestion, boost port efficiency
• Part of R4B plan to modernize South Africa’s main terminals
  

South Africa's state-owned freight logistics operator, Transnet, on Thursday, October 24, 2025, began commissioning four new Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes at Pier 2 of the Durban Container Terminal (DCT). The equipment is part of a 967 million rand (about $56 million) investment to increase the terminal’s handling capacity.

OCTOBER TRANSPORT MONTH CAMPAIGN

Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy today unveiled the new Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes, which will enhance operational efficiency, cargo-handling capacity and competitiveness at the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2 pic.twitter.com/RnZqFg8B0c

— Department of Transport (@Dotransport) October 23, 2025

According to Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), two of the cranes are already being commissioned and are expected to be fully operational by the end of October, while the other two, currently being assembled, will enter service by the end of November.

The investment forms part of a broader TPT modernization program, which recently included the delivery of 20 straddle carriers and nine Rubber-Tyred Gantry (RTG) cranes for Piers 1 and 2. The DCT is South Africa's largest port terminal, handling 72% of Durban's traffic and nearly 46% of the country’s total container volume.

However, the terminal has faced chronic capacity constraints and congestion for several years, leading to declining productivity. These challenges have contributed to the Port of Durban being ranked last among 403 terminals in the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) published by the World Bank in September.

The performance decline has also affected other major South African ports, including Cape Town and Coega, which are part of the ongoing investment program.

In total, Transnet spent 3.4 billion rand on new equipment in the fiscal year that ended in April 2025, and plans to invest an additional 4 billion rand this year to modernize the country’s five main terminals.

Henoc Dossa