Shipping Online has learned that the Port of Durban, South Africa's largest port, has been suspended due to the flooding caused by severe heavy rains.
Earlier this week, parts of KwaZulu-Natal province received as much as 300 millimetres of rain in 24 hours, bringing flooding that has killed nearly 60 people and severely damaged roads and railways.
Maersk said its local warehouse and warehouse operations had been suspended and that it had not been able to access the Durban pier due to severe damage to a passageway.
South Africa's state-owned port and rail operator Transnet yesterday suspended shipping in Durban until further notice.
Transnet spokeswoman Ayanda Shezi said:
"Due to environmental damage caused by bad weather, shipping has been suspended until further notice and vessels at the berth are on standby."
Key routes into the port, including the N2 motorway along the coast and the N3 route connecting Durban with the commercial hub of Johannesburg, were closed due to flood damage. As can be seen on social media, many containers have collapsed, and some containers are floating in and during the storm.
According to the head of the maritime online shipping agency business, the Port of Durban was once the largest port in Africa and an important gateway to landlocked neighbors such as Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
It is understood that South African President Ramaphosa will visit Durban today, and the army is also preparing to deploy troops to provide assistance.
South Africa is experiencing the La Niña weather phenomenon this year. On Monday, a weather station in the Durban suburb of Mt Eichcombe recorded 307 millimetres of rainfall over a 24-hour period, the highest since statistics began to be available 62 years ago and about twice as much as the maximum rainfall before 2019.