The Port of Ngqura in South Africa faced a challenging situation when they needed to align the different fender systems at their four berths. The port is in Eastern Cape province on the southeast coast of South Africa, about 25 km from Gqeberha (fornerly known as Port Elizabeth). Ngura is a deep-water port able to serve Super Post-Panamax container vessels up to 12,500 TEUs (20-foot containers).
In the past, the four container berths were equipped with different fender systems. But a new requirement from Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA), requiring that all fenders should be of the same type, made it necessary to replace about half of the fender systems. They entrusted Stefanutti Stocks Coastal with the work, to whom ShibataFenderTeam delivered 15 sets of Element Fender Systems (1,000 mm in height by 1,200 mm long) with steel panels measuring 2,800 mm by 4,000 mm. Ten of these sets are installed at the berths, while five are kept in stock at the port as spare parts.
The tender for this project was issued in the beginning of 2021, After the order was confirmed in July 2021, SFT engineers started with the design works and after manufacturing and shipment, the fenders arrived in South Africa in February 2022, in compliance with the rehab schedule on site.
For traceability purposes, a TGA test was performed for which our local representative collected rubber samples from the fenders on site, so that an independent laboratory was able to conduct the corresponding test. TGA testing is a Thermogravimetric Analysis and is used for traceability – it is performed to verify that the final fender was produced from the same compound which was used to verify the physical properties of the lab samples.
Reprinted from Marine Construction Magazine, Issue II, 2024
