Liner shipping cascading effect on Southern African Development Community port strategies

Abstract

Background: The cascading effect in the liner shipping industry has forced the ply of larger ships to Southern African Development Community (SADC) ports. This requires these ports to revise their strategic development to accommodate the resulting shifts in cargo flows to and from these strategic ports in conjunction with hinterland corridor development.Objectives: The purpose of this research was to understand the changing landscape of strategic SADC ports and develop future strategies with regard to liner shipping services.The main objective was to assess the future development needs of the SADC port system in relation to the cascading effect in liner shipping, linked to the development of hinterland corridors, identifying the limitations and opportunities of each port.Method: Descripto-exploratory research and analysis of secondary data were used. An extensive research of 552 sources (journal articles, research reports, books, newspaper and magazine articles and webpages) dating mostly from the year 2000 onwards were analysed.Results: Durban will remain the preferred container hub port for the foreseeable future if the port can increase its capacity and offer superior customer service in relation to competing ports in the region, such as Maputo, Walvis Bay and Ngqura. Durban is well adapted to accommodate the port and landside requirements resulting from the cascading effect. This is most evident in the depth of the port and port-side handling equipment. The findings confirm that the success of other SADC ports and corridors are subject to regional cooperation and integration without which the dominance of the port of Durban and the Maputo and North–South corridors will continue.Conclusion: The findings of the research indicate that Durban is ideally suited to develop further as a container hub port for the SADC region. This development is subject to a more competitive port landscape in the region as other ports such as Maputo, Walvis Bay and Ngqura improve their liner shipping service offering.