The Port of Ngqura finally welcomed its first two ships yesterday, marking an historic moment in the harbour‘s often stormy development.

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) Port Elizabeth port manager Ester Goosen, also tasked with bringing Ngqura on line, said the docking of the Beluga Indication and the BBC Langeland meant the port was finally "a reality".

In keeping with the sunny weather, both ships were flying the flags of Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean, where they were registered.

The 162-metre, 11000-ton British-based Beluga Indication is carrying a transformer for the new Dedisa power station in the Coega industrial development zone (IDZ).

The 105m, 6575-ton German-based BBC Langeland is carrying the first of 22 rubber tyre gantries - key machinery for lifting and stacking the 1400000 containers Ngqura will eventually have capacity for. Coega Development Corporation (CDC) business development manager Chris Mashego said the ships themselves and the gantry were key economic infrastructure for Ngqura.

"I can‘t wait to fire off the first e-mails and pictures to investors to tell them this port is ready," said Mashego.

Goosen said the installation of outstanding infrastructure which caused the four-day delay in the berthing of the two ships should be resolved by March or April next year.

Five more ships are due to arrive at Ngqura by February and, because this work will not have been completed, the same International Ships and Port Security code special clearance will have to be obtained for each of them from the transport department.

This work includes installation of surveillance cameras and a perimeter fence. Once it is complete and approved by the National Intelligence Agency and the department, the port will become fully operational, in about July next year.

The five ships due in February will be carrying five cranes and the rest of the gantries for stacking the containers.

Asked what down-time costs the ships had incurred because of the delay, TNPA Ngqura portoflio manager Fazeel Christian said these "still have to be quantified".

"The delay was normal teething problems."

TNPA marketing manager Manie Coetzee said that while the port could currently berth five ships at once, the aim was to expand to seven by 2010.

To lead the ships in, Ngqura will rely at first on the three tugs resident at the Port Elizabeth harbour. Three new tugs are being built in Durban for exclusive use at Ngqura.

The construction of the port and IDZ has long been questioned and opposed by environmental groups, who have viewed the arrival of the ships with some apprehension.

Marine watchdog Ocean Messengers says the major spike in shipping it presages will result in marine pollution which could damage the fragile ecosystem of Algoa Bay.

Christian was confident the TNPA was complying with the regularly audited conditions of the project‘s approval on September 5, 1997, which include an oil spill emergency plan and monitoring to ensure ships do not collide with southern right whales, whale sharks and manta rays that frequent the harbour area.

The masters of the Indication and the Langeland have specifically been warned to keep a look-out for whales.