The unnamed tropical storm that smashed into the coast of Durban yesterday brought with it deadly destruction, claiming at least eight lives at last count.

Along with gale force winds and flash floods that wreaked havoc all over the show, the giant, 330-metre long container ship, MSC Ines, was blown sideways by the gale, lodging it between two breakwater walls of the harbour.

With no ships able to get in or out, the port was closed:

Take a look at the situation in real life:

Ship has run aground in the #durban harbour. #DurbanWeather #DurbanStorm pic.twitter.com/cOKaBEwBkT

— Calvin Sacks (@calvin9sacks) October 10, 2017

According to Times LIVE, the SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) consequently spent Tuesday night and Wednesday morning re-floating various ships in distress.

In a massive joint operation, Samsa had to use five tugs to re-berth the MSC Ines. To complete the recovery operation, Chief operating officer Samsa Sobantu Tilayi said they had “worked with the Transnet Port Authority (TNPA)”:

“I have not seen anything like it.”

Here’s a great shot of the tugs getting busy:

Once she was in position, the MSC Ines was allocated a berth in the port for damage inspection.

Other ships that broke away from their moorings and were pushed onto the sandbanks by the gale force winds were the MSC New York, Bow Triumph, the SA Shipyard floating dock and the new harbour tug.

The MSC Susanna and Maritime Newanda also broke from their moorings, but were held by harbour tugs and prevented from running aground.

And the small boats and a crane suffered, too:

Overall, three containers from the MSC Ines were lost in the water. Posing a possible danger to navigation, the port has remained closed today as officials search the waters for them.

It’s cases like this that exemplify how important it is to get marine insurance when transporting goods, as you never know when – or what – disaster will strike.

One local freight company with the expertise and buying power to get the best rates from A-rated underwriters is Berry & Donaldson.

They ensure the best possible cargo cover for their clients at cost effective prices.

But maritime insurance is just the tip of the cargo ship when it comes to the services that Berry & Donaldson provides.

With over 50 years of operations, their freight-forwarding services, whether airfreight or sea freight, full containers or part-containers, breakbulk or perishable cargo, has all the experience in dealing with international logistics operators.

Also, it helps having a port authority as on it as Samsa.

[source:702&timeslive&news24&wavescape]