What changed and when
Maersk circulated an advisory on 28 February 2025 confirming that TPT would reduce the free storage period at all TPT terminals with effect from 1 April 2025. The change affected every container category — import full, export full, and transshipment — at all four major TPT-operated terminals in South Africa.
| Terminal | Before 1 April 2025 | From 1 April 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Durban Container Terminal (DCT) | 3.25 calendar days | 3 calendar days |
| Cape Town Container Terminal (CTCT) | 3.25 calendar days | 3 calendar days |
| Port Elizabeth / Gqeberha Container Terminal | 3.25 calendar days | 3 calendar days |
| Ngqura / Coega Container Terminal | 3.25 calendar days | 3 calendar days |
The change was part of a broader TPT tariff revision. Similar reductions have been implemented in phases across different cargo types. The 3-day figure is rounded down from the previous 3.25 — a seemingly trivial difference, but 15 minutes at Durban's pace of operations can be the difference between a free period and a first-tier storage charge.
How the TPT clock is counted
TPT's free period begins from the date of availability — not the date of discharge. Availability is declared when the container has been moved from the vessel-side to a reachable stack position and any port-internal holds are cleared. In practice at Durban this can be 12–24 hours or more after actual discharge from the vessel, particularly during periods of extreme congestion.
The 3 calendar days are counted inclusively — so a container made available at 09:00 on a Monday has its free period expiring at end-of-day Wednesday (Day 3). The free period is counted in calendar days, meaning Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays count. A container available on Thursday afternoon expires on Saturday evening — with no Monday-morning buffer.
Cash flow impact — worked example
Under the old 3.25-day rule, a consignee who collected on Day 4 (one day past the nominal 3-day mark but within the 0.25-day buffer) would sometimes escape a storage charge depending on the exact timing of availability and gate-out. Under the current 3-day rule, Day 4 is unambiguously chargeable.
Consider a Durban importer receiving 10 containers per month, with an average delay of 1.5 days past the free period due to clearing and transport scheduling. At an illustrative TPT first-tier rate of R380/day for a 20ft container and R520/day for a 40ft container (verify current rates with your agent), and assuming a mix of 6 × 20ft and 4 × 40ft:
| Container type | Units/month | Avg days in storage | Daily rate (illustrative) | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20ft | 6 | 1.5 | R380 | R3,420 |
| 40ft | 4 | 1.5 | R520 | R3,120 |
| Total per month | R6,540 | |||
| Annual TPT storage cost | R78,480 |
This is TPT storage alone — not including carrier demurrage, which runs simultaneously on the same containers beyond the carrier's free-day allowance. For a mid-size importer, optimising your clearing and transport process to trim the average delay from 1.5 days to 0.5 days would save approximately R52,000 per year on storage alone.
TPT storage vs carrier demurrage — distinct bills, different clocks
A common misconception is that the shipping line's free days and TPT's free days are the same thing — or that paying one cancels the other. They are entirely separate charges with different billing parties.
- TPT storage is a terminal handling charge billed by Transnet Port Terminals (a state-owned enterprise), calculated from the availability date, and invoiced through your clearing agent via the terminal system. TPT free days are fixed at 3 calendar days.
- Carrier demurrage is billed by the shipping line (Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM, etc.), negotiated at booking, typically starting from 5 to 14 days after discharge. It is a separate invoice from the carrier's local port agent.
In a typical scenario where the carrier grants 7 free days and TPT grants 3, a container collected on Day 5 attracts 2 days of TPT storage but zero carrier demurrage. Collected on Day 9, it attracts 6 days of TPT storage and 2 days of carrier demurrage — two separate invoices. Both are legitimate; both are your responsibility.
What to do now if you have not updated your processes
If your import process was calibrated to the old 3.25-day standard and you have not revisited it since April 2025, these are the adjustments to make:
- Update your cost model to assume TPT storage starts at Day 4, not Day 4.25.
- Brief your clearing agent to flag any container where availability day + 2 working days will not be enough to complete pre-clearance and arrange transport.
- Review your transport booking lead time — if you are currently booking transport on the day of SARS release, move this to pre-vessel-arrival to eliminate the gap.
- If you use voyage documents that require original B/L surrender in South Africa, consider telex-release or seaway bill arrangements wherever your supplier and trade lane allow — these eliminate the "waiting for original documents" delay entirely.
Never miss a free-day deadline again
Real-View SCM automatically tracks container availability dates and free-day countdowns across all your active shipments, sending alerts before TPT and carrier clocks expire.
Explore Real-View SCM →Frequently asked questions
Is the 3-day TPT free period the same at all South African ports?
Yes, the April 2025 change applied uniformly to all TPT-operated terminals: Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth/Gqeberha, and Ngqura/Coega. Note that private terminals (if applicable to your cargo type) may have different free periods — confirm with the specific terminal operator.
Does the 3-day rule apply to exports as well as imports?
Yes. The TPT tariff revision applied to export full containers as well as import full containers. For exports, the free period typically starts from the time the container is lodged at the terminal — check the specific terminal's tariff schedule for the exact trigger.
Can I appeal or dispute a TPT storage charge?
TPT storage charges are based on the terminal's own system timestamps and are rarely reversed unless there is a TPT system error or an incorrect availability date was recorded. Your clearing agent handles the interface with TPT. If you believe the availability date is wrong, ask your agent to request a timestamp audit from TPT — this must be done promptly after the container is gated out.
Why did TPT reduce the free period?
TPT has not published a detailed rationale but the change is consistent with a broader pattern of tariff adjustments aimed at improving terminal throughput by incentivising faster container collection. Terminals that are used as temporary warehouses by slow-collecting importers face congestion that affects all terminal users. The reduced free period creates a financial incentive to move cargo promptly.
Related guides
Sources: Maersk advisory 28 February 2025 (TPT free-time reduction effective 1 April 2025); Transnet Port Terminals tariff schedule. Rates in this guide are illustrative — verify current TPT storage tariffs with your clearing agent before financial planning. Last updated June 2026.