Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) reassured that contingency plans are in place to prevent disruptions to fuel supplies during a scheduled five-week shutdown of the tanker berth in the Port Elizabeth harbour from 18 February until 25 March. The berth outage will enable repairs to be continued on the corroded steel structures supporting the berth’s access walkway.
Specifically, the port manager at the Port of Port Elizabeth, Rajesh Dana reported that TNPA decided to shut down temporarily, the Port of PE’s tanker berth after extensive consultation with the oil companies, namely liquid bulk terminal operators operating out of the PE Tank Farm and the South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA).
During the repaid period, the fuel trucks will be transferred to the Port of East London’s Liquid Bulk Terminals, where TNPA says there is sufficient capacity to manage the temporary diversion.
The port manager commented
In our engagements with the oil companies, TNPA both advised and encouraged them to ramp up on the stock holdings at the PE harbour ahead of this shutdown and they have assured us that they have mitigation measures in place to ensure uninterrupted fuel supply to Nelson Mandela Bay.
He continued that TNPA will meet the companies weekly during the repair period to share progress and discuss any challenges.
Moreover, the landside operations of local fuel outlets’ supply, will continue during birth outage.
TNPA expects no negative impact to emerge during the port’s operations, such as bunkering, marine operations, the fishing industry, among others.
Mr Dana highlighted that despite concerns regarding the closure, the oil companies assured that they have measures to ensure that the fuel supply to Nelson Mandela Bay will take place with no interruption.
