Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

2-minute read
09 August 2023 | 21:16 CAT

Image: Wikipedia

Transnet National Ports Authority has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-hosted programme to address extreme wind disruption to operations for the integrated maritime transport logistics chain at the Port of Cape Town (PoCT). Other members of the MoA include the Alliance for Collaboration on Climate and Earth Systems Science (Access) and other research institutions.

Wind remains one of the biggest challenges affecting operational efficiency at the port. Over the past few years, the port has experienced an average loss of approximately 1 200 operational hours per year due to severe wind disruption, leaving terminal equipment unsafe to operate and impacting terminal operations. This, in turn, has led to congestion both in the port and outside, resulting in vessels at anchorage for extended periods. Several industries, including the time-sensitive fruit industry, are severely impacted by wind disruptions in the port.

CSIR senior researcher and Access director Dr Neville Sweijd says extreme weather is how climate change manifests. He explains that these extreme events, which occur in South Africa and everywhere else, are projected to intensify as global warming and climate change manifest further, and this is how people will experience it in their lives and work.

“The extreme wind problem in the Port of Cape Town is a classic example. It is not a new problem, but potentially a worsening one, and so it will increasingly impact lives and livelihoods all around the Western Cape, especially for those people involved in the fruit export industry,” he says.

He explains that the project seeks to produce solutions that can be used to adapt to and manage extreme wind impacts. “We cannot turn the wind off, but we can learn to better work with it,” he adds.

Listen to the full interview on Sabahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.