The Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have signed a memorandum of understanding to address extreme wind disruption and operate in the Port of Cape Town (PoCT).
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As per a joint statement, PoCT lost an average of 1 200 hours per year of operational time due to extreme wind disruption.
‘Extreme wind gusts can result in terminal equipment becoming unsafe to operate, thereby impacting terminal operations. This sometimes leads to congestion inside and outside the port, resulting in vessels being at anchorage for extended periods. Several industries, including the time-sensitive fruit industry, are severely impacted by wind disruptions in the port.’
Experts who possess the skills required to address the issue are currently conducting research via the partnership’s Alliance for Collaboration on Climate and Earth Systems Science (ACCESS). The goal is to establish a series of research projects aimed at understanding the impact of extreme wind disruption on operations for the integrated maritime transport logistics chain at the port.
According to the South African Government News Agency, the University of the Witwatersrand is also studying seasonal climate patterns that result in these extreme winds to determine whether there are trends and whether the intensity of the wind is worsening. They are also investigating how wind patterns at the Cape Peninsula and at the port are likely to change due to climate change.
Furthermore, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Cape Town (UCT) are examining the current and future economic impact of these disruptions on certain value chains to determine financial losses and the required investment into adaptation measures to address the problem.
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Advocate Phyllis Difeto, TNPA managing executive for Western Region ports, says the institution appreciates the increasing risk of environmental challenges to port operations.
‘Unless these are carefully understood and managed, they can add a burden to the smooth management of the ports, which are vital to the functioning of the country’s economy. Climate change presents a growing challenge to shipping and ports in that it impacts the state of both land and sea operations.’
Extreme weather conditions are how climate change manifests, says SIR Senior Researcher and ACCESS Director Dr Neville Sweijd.
‘The extreme wind problem in the PoCT is a classic example. It is not a new problem, but potentially a worsening one, and so it will increasingly have an impact on lives and livelihoods all around the Western Cape, especially for those people who are involved in the fruit export industry.’
He adds that the project aims to produce solutions that can be used to adapt to and manage extreme weather conditions over the next two years. ‘We cannot turn the wind off, but we can learn to better work with it.’
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