South Africa needed a port with deep-water access, and Coega was an important development in this regard, Ivan Heesom-Green, the chief executive of Safmarine, has said.

"I see merit in Coega. We need it to handle growth," he said, adding that despite the long distances between the new port in the Eastern Cape and the manufacturing centres of Gauteng and Durban, the port would be viable.

"The inland links to Gauteng can be improved and the Eastern Cape itself is a manufacturing centre, particularly for the automotive industry.

"I see a lot of opportunity for Coega to trans-ship containers, in other words goods not from or destined for South Africa.

"We need a port on the South African coast that can provide direct deep-water access to the sea for the next generation of container vessels," he explained.

Safmarine, since being acquired by AP Moller-Maersk in 1999, has extended its operations to 131 countries and operates a fleet of more than 40 owned and chartered ships.

Safmarine contributes between eight per cent and 10 per cent to the container shipping business of the AP Moller-Maersk group.

Three new vessels were delivered this year to service west African trade, and two new ships will service trade between South Africa and Europe from next year.

The five ships, which are larger and faster than those in the existing fleet, cost R1,25 billion and were financed through Safmarine's cash flow and balance sheet.

Heesom-Green said the challenges facing ports included coping with the sheer volume of exports and imports. "In terms of container trade, port authorities should take a long, hard look at predicted future demand.

"They need to sit down with carriers, exporters and importers and work out what kind of throughput we envisage in a five, 10 and 15-year cycle because infrastructure is a long-term investment," said Heesom-Green.

"Plans should be made to manage that volume with spare capacity to cater for peaks."

Authorities have started addressing infrastructure backlogs.