VZCZCXRO8796
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO
DE RUEHTN #0099/01 0921222
ZNR UUUUU ZZH  ZDK CTG RUEHLU 6328 1070743
R 021222Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2265
INFO RUEHLU/AMEMBASSY LUANDA 0221
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 5618
RUEHWD/AMEMBASSY WINDHOEK 1105
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 2968
RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 1821
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC 0001

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAPE TOWN 000099 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DHS FOR BGILDA, USCG ROTTERDAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ELTN ETRD KHLS SF
SUBJECT: CAPE TOWN PORT FACES LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES 
 
CAPE TOWN 00000099  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Multiple uses, lack of responsiveness to 
customers, windy weather, a land-locked location and poor 
planning create logistical challenges for South Africa's 
Port of Cape Town.  Port productivity is below 
international standards and ships face excessive waits for 
port access.  The Port of Cape Town, enjoying a prime 
location and facing increasing user demands, will find it 
difficult to support this economic growth without careful 
planning.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Embassy transportation officer visited the Port of 
Cape Town March 21-23 to identify existing logistical 
challenges to port operations.  The multi-purpose port 
includes facilities for pleasure yachts, ship repair and 
supply, private residences, retail shopping, container and 
bulk goods loading (mostly fruit), cruise liners and 
storage.  Conflicting demands from multiple users has made 
port use planning difficult and causes logistical 
challenges.  The Cape Town Chamber of Commerce hosts a Port 
Liaison Forum which serves as the primary means of 
communicating port logistics issues.  Port customers told 
transportation officer that the National Ports Authority 
(NPA) does not provide such a forum for hearing their 
concerns and NPA is not responsive when logistical issues 
are raised.  (Note.  NPA owns the port and provides 
infrastructure.  South Africa Ports Operators (SAPO) 
operates the port.  Both NPA and SAPO are part of TRANSNET, 
South Africa's parastatal transportation company.  End 
Note.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Cape Town port container terminal manager Oscar 
Borchards told transportation officer that high winds 
caused port shut-downs for thirty days last year.  When 
winds reach speeds of 80 km/hr or greater, usually during 
the November to May windy season, the container terminal 
must shut down as a safety precaution.  Although the 
duration of each shut-down is normally less than 24 hours, 
it causes a backlog of ships and trucks waiting to leave or 
enter the port.  Borchards also reported that the port is 
hindered by inefficient and outmoded gantry cranes used to 
load shipping containers.  Most of the cranes are over 
thirty years old and are not wide enough to service the 
larger post-panamax ships efficiently.  As a consequence, 
the port's container terminal operates at an efficiency of 
23 containers/hour/crane compared with an international 
minimum standard of 25 containers/hour/crane.  Borchards 
hopes that new cranes will be purchased by the NPA and that 
the productivity rate will then rise to 30 
containers/hour/crane. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Port expansion is hindered by its land-locked 
location.  The land behind the port is used for a critical 
and overburdened city automobile traffic artery.  Adjacent 
land has already been developed into expensive residential 
and commercial uses.  Seven years ago NPA submitted an 
Environmental Impact Assessment to extend the port sea-ward 
by widening and deepening the channels, using excavated 
material to extend the length and width of the container 
terminal.  Enlarging the port channels would also allow the 
port to accommodate newer, larger ships which require 
deeper passage and docking.  Residents of a nearby upscale 
beachfront community complained that reconfiguring the port 
will cause their beachfront to be eroded by tides and 
wind.  NPA continues to seek approval of the project, 
despite community opposition. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Poor planning by the NPA was cited by port 
customers as a reason for logistical challenges being faced 
at the multi-use facility.  Port planning in South Africa 
requires that individual ports create their own plans which 
then form a national ports plan, developed by the NPA. 
Port customers say that these plans are kept secret.  NPA's 
Cape Town Port Marketing Manager Selma Schwartz-Claussen 
told transportation officer that as part of the national 
port plan, NPA is looking at simplifying port operations by 
reducing the range of operations carried out at the port. 
Schwartz-Claussen said that NPA is exploring the transfer 
of ship repair and supply operations from the Cape Town 
port to the Port of Saldanha, located north of Cape Town 
along the Atlantic coast.  Schwartz-Claussen said that 
while port plans are not certain, NPA could convert the 
ship repair and supply areas to create a dedicated-use 
cruise line terminal and expand residential and retail 
 
CAPE TOWN 00000099  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
areas within the port.  South Africa Oil and Gas Alliance 
General Manager Angelo Harris said such a move would be 
opposed, as the Port of Saldanha is located in an isolated 
area without adequate housing, rail or road 
infrastructure.  Most ships being supplied and repaired in 
Cape Town are oil tankers from Angola and ships must now 
wait two or three days to enter the port for ship repair 
and supply, according to Harris. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment.  The City of Cape Town is enjoying an 
economic boom, fueled by a rapid rise in the number of 
tourists and hotels and escalating property prices.  The 
Port of Cape Town, enjoying a prime location and facing 
increasing user demands, will find it difficult to support 
this economic growth without careful planning.  Potential 
solutions include the transfer of some port operations to 
other ports such as the port of Saldanha to the north or 
the new port of Coega, 20 kilometers north of Port 
Elizabeth in Easter Cape Province.  End Comment. 
 
LA LIME