ANALYSIS: First rays of optimism are shining on South Africa's struggling ports

The port of Durban (Photo: Tom Westcott)

From Durban’s shoreline, the immediate horizon of the Indian Ocean is still decorated with freight vessels on anchorage, waiting for berthing slots in South Africa’s largest port, a legacy of several months’ of port congestion. Although it was hoped the backlog could be cleared by late January, industry experts now say the whole of February is needed to clear the congestion at the country’s eight main ports that has seen shipping rates soar and some major lines pare down port ...