Durban Port
A strike at Pier One at Durban’s container terminal has halted all movements at the port and the strike is likely to hamper shipping movements for several days. The Mercury reports that some shipping companies have already diverted their ships to other ports around the South African coast.
Productivity at the ports has been slow over the past week and the shut-down is expected to have a major impact on the freight industry in South Africa. Malcolm Sodalay, regional chairman of the South African Association of Freight Forwarders says that the strike is illegal. The association is in talks with the representative unions.
Transnet and the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union blamed the problem on a “temporary suspension of activities due to operational issues within the terminal.”