Page 13 - Maritime Book 1

TWO DECADES OF TRANSFORMATION
The last few decades have seen huge changes in terms of vessel size and capacity which have required major upgrades to port infrastructure, eet, processes and systems, in addition to training and developing human resources to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving shipping industry.
The largest container vessel in 1997 had a capacity of 7226 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). The largest container vessel in 2020 is the HMM Algeciras which has over three times that capacity at 23 964 TEUs, with a length of 400 metres, width of 61 metres and draft of 16.5 metres.
TNPA has transformed its maritime resources, replaced and built new infrastructure, replaced and grown its eet and developed its marine personnel to ensure that the organisation is able to handle new generation vessels and compete effectively in an increasingly competitive global market.
In addition to meeting the challenges presented by bigger vessels carrying far greater volumes of cargo than ever before, our ports are also dealing with the impact of climate change, which has resulted in more frequent adverse weather conditions and deadly storms.
Among the larger infrastructure projects undertaken by TNPA to ensure that our ports continue to serve the South African economy were the widening of the Durban entrance channel from 120m to 220m in 2005, the new Pier 1 Container Terminal in 2007, and the new deep-water Port of Ngqura commissioned in 2009, which has become one of the fastest growing ports on the African continent.
Ageing infrastructure, such as the quay walls and berths at Maydon Wharf and Island View in the Port of Durban, has been replaced to ensure safe and efficient operations.
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