After a 36-hour suspension, shipping operations at the Port of Durban have slowly started to resume.
The port’s operations were suspended Monday evening as a result of the heavy rainfall that caused damaging floods. Transnet, the operator of South Africa’s ports, said that while there were no serious incidents at the terminals, the suspension was taken as a precautionary measure.
At the time, Transnet said they were “monitoring activities,” and that they would inspect the port before resuming its operations.
The storm, which recorded the heaviest rainfall for the country in over 60 years, left complete destruction and killed at least 306 people.
In Durban, the rain and floods damaged a road and prevented vehicles from accessing the port.
The Port of Durban is South Africa’s largest port, and the operations account for about two-thirds of the containers moved through the country’s ports. It is also an important trade route for its landlocked neighbors like Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
