THE Port of Durban gradually resumed operations after a 36-hour shutdown which has led to backlogs of cargo with more than 23 vessels waiting at anchor.
No major damage was recorded at the port, but roads mired in mud prevented truckers and dockers from reaching terminals, reported New York's FreightWaves.
Depots and container warehouses in the surrounding area reported damage to containers as floodwater washed empty containers away or caused container stacks to collapse. Some operations at these facilities remain suspended.
The Port of Durban has a capacity of 3.6 million TEU a year, with a further 1.4 million tons of breakbulk capacity and 1.4 million tons of agricultural bulk a year.
Danish shipping giant Maersk suspended operations at Durban as there is no access to its terminal because of "significant damage" to access road, it said.
Among the port's largest exports in 2020 were automotive components, ferroalloys, raw nickel, chemical wood pulp and chromium ore. Agricultural exports including fruit, wheat maize and soy meal are also likely to be affected by the flooding.
Sixty people have died in KwaZulu-Natal province because of the floods, Johannesburg-based broadcaster eNCA reported. Weather stations reported the heaviest rainfall in six decades, with more than a foot of rain falling within 24 hours.
"The damage left behind is unimaginable," Mpume Langa, first vice president at the Durban Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview with Johannesburg-based broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.
Durban is part of the eThekwini municipality, the largest in the KwaZulu-Natal province, which is the second-biggest contributor to South Africa's US$429 billion gross domestic product.
The Port of Durban is sub-Saharan Africa's largest container hub. It handles 60 per cent of the country's shipments and also transports goods and commodities to and from nations in the region as far north as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The disaster unfolded less than a year after a week of rioting and looting in Natal and Gauteng provinces cost the economy an estimated ZAR50 billion (US$3.5 billion) in damages and left more than 300 people dead.
Transnet, the state-owned ports and rail operator, suspended shipping in Durban until further notice. Key routes into the port, including the coastal N2 highway and the N3 route that links Durban to the commercial hub of Johannesburg, were closed because of flood damage.
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