A cyberattack shut Transnet's container ports and forced force majeure

CNBC reported on 27 July 2021 that Transnet, South Africa's state-owned rail, port and pipeline company, was in crisis mode after a cyberattack hit the previous week. The company had halted operations at container terminals in Durban, Ngqura, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, according to a note Transnet sent to customers.

The note said Transnet, including Transnet Port Terminals, 'experienced an act of cyberattack, security intrusion and sabotage, which resulted in the disruption of TPT normal processes and functions or the destruction or damage of equipment or information', with investigators still determining the source and extent of the breach. Transnet's website was still inaccessible on the Tuesday morning.

The company had first reported IT network disruption on the Thursday, said on Friday it had identified and isolated the source, but the problems persisted: in the customer note Transnet reportedly declared force majeure. The Road Freight Association's CEO said he was 'dismayed and gravely concerned': the attack caused 'massive delays and unreliability of the movement of goods across all modes of transport', with port gates closed and no trucks moving in either direction. Durban's port handles over 60% of South Africa's container traffic.

Container terminals at Durban, Ngqura, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town halted; Durban alone handles over 60% of South Africa's container traffic; force majeure declared.

Terminal operating systems are single points of failure for entire ports.

Isolating the intrusion still left customer-facing operations frozen for days.

Force majeure shifted contractual exposure onto shippers already in crisis.

The attack landed while the country was reeling from deadly riots.

For a port operator, cyber resilience is cargo throughput: one intrusion on IT systems can close a country's trade gates faster than any storm.

Transnet said it was taking all available and reasonable mitigation measures to limit the impact; the article gives no restoration date or final cost.