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Port of Richards Bay, South Africa28°48’S, 32°02’E | Tel: +27 35 788 0953 | rbayinfo@lbhsouthafrica.com

SOUTH AFRICA

Port Information: Richards Bay

The Port of Richards Bay handles more cargo by volume than

any other South African port and is the country’s premier

bulk port. Its bulk operations are focused on four major

activities: export coal, dry bulks, break-bulk and liquid bulks.

The Richards Bay Coal Terminal is one of the world’s leading

coal export facilities.

Richards Bay is a relatively young port, having opened on 1

April, 1976. The port is located on the Zululand coast in the

north of KwaZulu-Natal, about 160km north-east of Durban

and 465km south of Maputo. Its main hinterland consists of

northern KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

Disclaimer:Although reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the facts stated in this document are accurate and that the opinions expressed are fair and reasonable, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of the information and opinions contained in this document, and no reliance should be placed on such information or opinions. None of the Company, any of their respective members, directors, officers or employees, nor any other person accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss, however arising, from any use of such information or opinions. No reliance should be placed on the information and no representation or warranty (express or implied) is made by the Company or any of their respective directors or employees or any other person, no liability whatsoever is accepted by such person in relation thereto.

The Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), which is located in

the Richards Bay harbour on the Indian Ocean coast of South

Africa, is the largest coal export facility in Africa. Positioned

at one of the world’s deep-sea ports, RBCT is able to handle

large ships and, subsequently, large volumes. It has a design

capacity of 91 million tons per annum and a stockyard

capacity of 7.7 million tons.

RBCT shares a strong cooperative relationship with South

Africa’s national utility, Transnet, which provides the railway

services linking the coal mines to the port, and the shipping

coordination of more than 900 ships per annum.

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Port: Richards Bay, South Africa

Location:Latitude: 28.791457° S

Longitude: 32.038768° E

Advising ETA: VHF Channel 16 is the calling

frequency with messages being

passed on VHF Channel 12.

Vessels should radio Port Control

prior to arrival, advising ETA.

When vessels enter the VTS zone

they must advise Port Control of

their draught freeboard and any

other VTS information requested.

Airport: Richards Bay Airport is 8km away

and is not part of the network or

larger airport operated by

parastatal Airports Company

South Africa. Return flights to

Johannesburg’s OR Tambo

International Airport.

Anchorages: Outer anchorage is 3-6 miles

south-east of the south

breakwater. Caution should be

exercised during strong SW and

NE winds. Anchorage immediately

to the north of the port entrance

channel is a prohibited area due

to location of offshore pipelines.

Approaches: Via VTS lanes.

Ballast:Vessels should be sufficiently

ballasted to navigate safely

within the port.

Vessels up to 250m in length

overall: fwd draught 2% in LOA /

aft draught 3% in LOA

Vessels in excess of 250m in

LOA: fwd draught 2.5% in LOA /

aft draught 3.5% in LOA

Banking: All major South African and

international banks represented

in Richards Bay.

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Berths: 23 Berths in total, up to 350m in length.

Bunkers: Bunkers are provided by bunker barge ‘Lapuma’, operated

by Smit Amandla Marine (Pty) Ltd at the port. M.V Amber

II, operated by Amsol, supplies BP stems at this stage.

Cargo Handling: The port hosts six licensed cargo handling terminals equipped

to ensure that clients can compete in the global arena.

Multi-Purpose Terminal

Forest products (paper and pulp)

Metal items (aluminium ingots, Ferro metals, chrome and

pig iron)

Bagged cargo

Granite

A small number of containers

Project cargo (heavy lift, abnormal loads, etc.)

Bulk coal

Dry Bulk Terminal

Export commodities include coal, magnetite, chrome,

fertilizer, rock phosphate, rutile, titanium slag, vanadium

slag, steel pipes, vermiculite, woodchips and zircon.

Imports include alumina, coking coal, pet coke, potash,

rock phosphate, sulphur and urea.

Richards Bay Coal Terminal

Export coal

Cruise: No dedicated area. Liners are berthed at suitable berths

depending on space availability and vessel size, or at Small

Craft Port.

Depth: Port entrance channel is 300m wide, extending seawards

400m beyond breakwater to depth of 22m.

Multi-Purpose Terminal

The terminal uses Berths 606 to 608 and 706 to 708. Draft

restrictions are 13.5m across all these berths. 609 is an

import berth only with an LOA restriction of 300m and a

draft restriction of 13.6m.

Dry Bulk Terminal

The DBT has the use of six berths – No’s 701, 702, 703,

704/705, 801 and 804. 701 has a depth alongside of 14m

whereas all other DBT berths have a draft of 17.5m.

Richards Bay Coal Terminal

The Terminal uses berths 301 – 306, with lengths ranging from

184 - 350 metres. Draft alongside all berths is 17.5 metres.

Berths may require dredging from time to time, and the

Harbour Master may issue revised drafts for an interim period.

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Emergencies: Contact Port Control on Channel 12 or 16

or call +27 35 905 3444/3401. Contact Port Fire Emergency

on +27 83 708 0830.

Fresh Water: Available at all berths on request. In light of recent drought

situations, a restriction of 100 tons is in place. Only under

special circumstances will the Harbour Master approve

requests that exceed the 100-ton restriction.

Hazardous Cargo: Arrangements must be made through the Harbour Master.

Vessels carrying explosive or dangerous goods are

restricted to arrival and movement within the port during

daylight hours.

Hours: Administration office hours: Mon – Fri: 08:00 – 16:00.

Closed on public holidays.

Marine service hours: 24/7

Terminals: 24/7, but public holiday closures vary per terminal.

Pilotage: Pilotage is compulsory. Marine pilots are transferred to

and from vessels by helicopter. There is a pilot boat on

standby if the helicopter is unavailable. General

communication with the helicopter is on VHF Channel 14.

Port control will advise on which side the ladder should be

rigged. Man ropes must be provided; pilot hoists are

unacceptable. Vessels are served in order of priority in

terms of the Marine Resource Reservation System.

Pilot Boarding Position: Boarding pilots are determined by the Marine Pilot within

an area designated for pilot boarding as per local

navigation charts. All vessels with a freeboard in excess of

9m must have an accommodation ladder rigged in

conjunction with the pilot ladder. The lower edge of the

accommodation ladder must not be more than 9m above

sea level.

Port Limits:Six mile limit south-east of South Breakwater.

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Radio:

Calling frequency is VHF Channel

12. VHF Channel 16 is monitored

for emergency purposes.

Ship Repair: No dedicated ship repair berth

facility. A repair berth is located

at Small Craft Port.

Storage:Both covered and open storage

is available.

Tide: Tidefall is 2.47m.

Transportation:The port’s main hinterland

comprises of the northern

KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and

Mpumalanga regions. The port

also has access to South Africa’s

trunk road network, as well as

excellent rail infrastructure

connecting all major cities and

countries further north.

Water Density:Richards Bay is considered as a

seawater port, and therefore has

a density of 1025g /m3.

However, please note that the

hydrometer used by the draft

surveyor is calibrated differently

that the load line hydrometer

and will read 1023, while the

load line hydrometer used for

checking the load line is

calibrated to 1025. We therefore

request that Masters prepare a

stowplan based on 1023 water

density, and if the density is less

than 1023 a small allowance can

be made up to 1023.

Weather: Subtropical climate with warm,

wet summers and mild, moist to

dry winters. The town’s average

annual rainfall is 1 228 mm (48.3

in) and the average annual

temperature is 21.5°C.

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M U D F L A T S

L A K E

M Z I N G A Z I

S A N C T U A R Y A R E A

P O R T E N T R A N C E

RICHARDS BAY

BREAKBULKMPT

BREAKBULKMPT

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ZONE

LIQ

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BU

LK

DR

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(RB

CT)

DRY BULKMULTIPURPOSE

TERMINAL

SMALL CRAFT

HARBOUR

LIQUID

BULK BERTH

DR

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ULK

BE

RTH

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(RB

CT)

PORT OF RICHARDS BAY

Terminal Information: Multi-purpose Terminal

With an annual capacity of 8 million tons of break-bulk

cargo, the Richards Bay Multi-purpose Terminal (MPT)

handles a very diverse range of commodities. The terminal

is the result of a merger between two separate facilities: the

Bulk Metals Terminal and the Combi Terminal. This

integration of infrastructure and facilities has allowed the

MPT to provide and manage logistics for a variety of cargo

types, notably break-bulk, neo-bulks and containers. Much

of the break-bulk cargo handled at Richards Bay is

skip-loaded because of the density of the commodities, and

is transported to and from the port by road transport. For

this reason, the TNPA has invested billions of Rands in

purchasing cargo handling equipment and creating

additional capacity. This is an ongoing project.

Dry Bulk Terminal

The Dry Bulk Terminal (DBT) at Richards Bay is one of the most

advanced multi-purpose bulk handling facilities in Africa.

Image sourced by Transnet

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The terminal has an annual

capacity of 20 million tons and is

designed for high productivity and

fast vessel turnarounds. The DBT is

not dedicated to any specific

commodity, but handles multiple

products over its conveyor system.

In order to avoid contamination,

the belts, transfer points, rail trucks

and vessel loaders and unloaders

are washed thoroughly after each

operation before commencing the

next product handling procedure.

Richards Bay Coal Terminal

The Richards Bay Coal Terminal

(RBCT) is a world class coal export

terminal situated in the Port of

Richards Bay. The terminal

provides South Africa’s Coal

Exporting Parties (CEPs) with a

world class logistics service that

facilitates the export of coal.

Export destination per continent:

Asia – 81.6%

Europe – 10.1%

Africa – 7.8%

South America – 0.5%

All RBCT’s operations and

administrative functions are

conducted in Richards Bay.

Sourced Information: www.transnet.net

SOUTH AFRICA

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