The leak is fixed
Shipping traffic in Rotterdam port resumed before 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) on Thursday following a partial halt due to a gas leak at a liquefied natural gas terminal, a police spokesman told Reuters.
Earlier on Thursday, shipping had been halted in the area of Maasvlakte, which represents around one fifth of the total port area due to gas cloud caused by the leak at GATE terminal.
“The leak is fixed,” Rotterdam police spokesman said.
The 800 million euro Gas Access to Europe (Gate) terminal, built by Gasunie and Koninklijke Vopak said in a statement that a white cloud was created when gas was released during work on one of the jetties.
“This cloud was caused by condensation of water vapor in the air in contact with the cold gas. This cloud contained no toxic substances and there is no danger,” the statement said.
Dutch day-ahead gas prices traded 0.30 euro higher on Thursday at 25.75 euros. Traders said if gas flows from the Gate terminal have been interrupted, prices could rise even more as gas unloaded from a Nigerian cargo three days ago is expected to enter the market.
“The news will probably lift prices a little, a tanker unloaded at Gate a few days ago,” one European gas trader said. Weekend gas rose 0.70 euros to 25.45 euros, according to broker data.
Rotterdam is the largest European port for the import of crude oil, and the biggest port for iron ore supplies to the German blast furnaces in the Ruhr region.
Source: Reuters
