The Durban Gateway Terminal moved 3,672 TEUs a day in the four weeks to 10 September, against 5,286 a day across the preceding four months, with vessels waiting an average of 212 hours at anchorage and roughly 11,550 containers already diverted. Waterside volumes are sitting near 63 per cent of the same period last year. Theft and vandalism, reported on 14 September, cost Transnet close to R2 billion in 2025/26. Every diverted box teaches a cargo owner to route around the port, and that behaviour does not reverse when the backlog clears.
Groundwork
Durban is running a third below its own recent average
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