Transnet paves the way for Port of Durban expansion and new access routes

Transnet National Ports Authority said on Tuesday that it was moving ahead with the redevelopment and expansion of Bayhead Road to ease truck congestion and improve operations at the Port of Durban.

This was revealed at a media engagement with Port of Durban acting manager, Nkumbuzi Ben-Mazwi. TNPA said it was also moving ahead with plans to start to build a second access road to Port Durban to the value of R3.2 billion.

Johnny Mokheseng, programme director for mega projects at TNPA, said that a feasibility study for the expansion of Bayhead Road was currently underway.

“We plan to complete the feasibility study by the end of the year and hope that construction for the expansion will start next year,” he said.

“In the interim, we will do rehabilitation and repairs on Bayhead Road as the state of it is quite dire. The long term is to increase capacity and expand the road to three lanes in each direction.”

Mokheseng added that they were also in the early stages of development of a second access road to the Port of Durban.

“We have a lot of trucks going to Island View and Durban Container Terminals, and Bayhead Road may not be enough to decongest traffic. We are looking at having a road that will connect the Port, M7, and the N2, and this will be our second access road,” he said.

“We are doing this in partnership with eThekwini Municipality. Currently, we are at a pre-feasibility stage. We are also hoping to sign the Memorandum of Agreement with the City by next week, and once we are done, we are looking at a year to complete the pre-feasibility study and then a more detailed study.”

Mokheseng said that they also have to look at sources of funding for the project. “The high-level cost of constructing the second access road is R3.2bn, so it is a big project and it can only be done in partnership with eThekwini Municipality.”

Ben-Mazwi said they had made big progress through working with the industry to address the vessel backlog experienced at the Port in 2023.

“It was a dark time, and we kept the public informed, and as of last year, we have significantly reduced the number of vessels at the Port of Durban. We put in various initiatives to address these challenges,” he said.

“Last year, we bought seven new tugs, five of which were for the Port of Durban, to deal with marine challenges. It is part of a R1bn investment to address challenges at the Port.”

Mazwi added that they had put in plans to fence the Maydon Wharf area as part of plans to rehabilitate roads near the Port of Durban.

“We have also put in additional security points that have more booms with spikes, so we have more control of who enters the Port. We also have a dry dock which we use to repair and service vessels,” he said.

“Last year, we reached a high point with the dry dock where we were able to service five vessels. As a result, we are going to invest in the dry dock. We have already bought five capstans which enable us to manoeuvre vessels into the dry dock.”

Mazwi added that they have issued a request for proposal for the Maydon Wharf multipurpose terminal.

“This opportunity will close in June. It will try to make sure the Port is growing and bring new entrants in the Port, and we have new terminals and maximise space available at the Port.”

Mokheseng said that they are in discussions with the City and Ithala over the Durban Bay Waterfront Project.

“They own a good percentage of the land and we need to work in partnership with them to develop the waterfront. We are looking to improve road and rail in the area and then have hotels and malls in the Durban Bay waterfront area. However, it's still in the early stages of the redevelopment,” he said.

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