Cape Town Docks
The story of the Cape Town Docks goes back to 1654. Two years after he arrived at the Cape, Jan Van Riebeek had a small jetty built in the relatively safe bay, now known as Table Bay. His mandate was to establish a refreshment station for ships travelling from Europe to the East. It serviced ships for many years.
In 1858, terrible weather damaged more than 30 ships in the harbour. Consequently, the insurance company Lloyds refused to cover ships that overwintered in Table Bay.
In 1860, construction work began on a new harbour, where previously only three wooden jetties were used for cargo and passengers.
Prince Alfred, 2nd son of Queen Victoria, ceremoniously tipped the first load of stone to begin the construction of the breakwater. This was to create a harbour that would be safe for ships year-round. The breakwater was designed to protect it from the prevailing swell.
While the harbour was still being built, a severe storm in Table Bay drove 18 ships ashore in one night!
The basin was dug out of rock, and the rock was then used to construct the breakwater. It took 10 years to complete the project.
People from around the world descended on Cape Town when diamonds were discovered in the interior in 1867; this impacted the number of ships arriving. However, the opening of the Suez Canal 2 years later caused many ships to choose that route rather than the long voyage around the Cape
Alfred Basin
Docks in the early 1900s, pre-foreshore reclamation Town Docks
As the harbour became busier, the dock became too small and had to be extended, so the Victoria Basin was constructed, adding 10 berths. Due to the large convoys that called during WW2, the basin was extended further; the work began in 1938 and was completed in 1945. The new section was called Duncan Dock. It consists of 4 berths. Part of this construction included the reclamation of large areas that were formerly underwater. This area is now called the Foreshore. The dock extension included a dry dock (Sturrock Drydock) that could accommodate the world’s largest ships at the time. Robinson Dock
The Commodore at the Duncan dock
Cape Town Docks in the 40s
Cape Town Docks in the 60s
The old Pier, the first functional pier in Cape Town, was built in 1910 at the bottom of the Heerengracht. It was a highlight of cultural and social life in Cape Town. It was open to all races. Concerts were held in the small pavilion. Ballet, contemporary, and classical music shows were popular. It served commercial vessels and passenger ships until 1939, when the pier was demolished as part of the land reclamation project. The boundaries were pushed further out to sea for what would become the Duncan Dock and the modern foreshore. The pier was demolished, but its footprint lies beneath the reclaimed land of the foreshore
Promenade Pier, 1905.
In 2007, the Container Terminal, Ben Schoeman terminal, was upgraded. This involved extending and strengthening the concrete surface to allow containers to be stacked higher, increasing the number of containers stacked in the terminal. The Container Basin had to be dredged to enable deeper-draughted ships to berth
Cape Town docks are placed on one of the world’s busiest trade routes. It is one of the busiest ports in South Africa, handling the largest amount of fresh fruit. It is second only to Durban as a container port. The port also has significant repair and maintenance facilities that are used by large fishing fleets. Many cruise ships also berth in the port of Cape Town, as it is a popular tourist destination.
. The depth at the entrance channel is 15.9m. It is 15.4 m at the 180m wide entrance into Duncan Dock, and -14m deep at the entrance to Ben Schoeman Dock.
Interesting facts about Cape Town Docks
- The port of Cape Town remains open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
- The harbour handles the largest amount of fresh fruit in South Africa.
- Cape Town Harbour is the second busiest container port in South Africa, after Durban
- The port has a synchrolift capable of handling ships up to 61m in length, 15m beam and 1,806 tonnes
- The turnaround time (average duration of the vessels staying docked in this terminal) is 3.9 days.
- Dredging is carried out regularly to maintain the required depths alongside and in the harbour.
- The port employs two workboats named Kestrel and Blue Jay, two Damen-built pilot boats, Red Bishop and Plover, four launches named Troupant, Koester, Kite and Weaver, a pollution boat named Pelican, plus a heavy-lift floating crane called Inkunzi.
- The Robinson Dry Dock in the Victoria Basin measures 161.2m in length with an entrance top of 20.7m and a depth of 7.9m.
- The depth in the Duncan Dock varies between -9.9m near the repair quay to -12.4m at the tanker basin. Ben Schoeman Dock varies from -9m to -13.9m...
GPS: S 33 54.772 (Latitude) E 18 26.123 (Longitude) Cape Town
