PHOTO COURTESY AFRICA PORTS
Transnet National Ports Authority has reinstated the tanker berth at the Port of Port Elizabeth and expects its next liquid bulk vessel call next week on the 18th of December 2024.
TNPA acting port manager David Goliath says the construction works aimed at reinstating the tanker berth commenced in September, following an incident that severely damaged the infrastructure and rendered it non-operational.
The appointed contractor’s scope of works entailed salvaging collapsed steel infrastructure, reinstating firefighting and electrical supply and installing lighting infrastructure and a steel walkway.
The recommissioning of the berth follows a stakeholder engagement with oil majors to demonstrate operational readiness.
Goliath said the resumption of operations will positively impact fuel security supply and pricing for the region.
“The collaborative efforts by the terminal operator, oil majors, the contractor and other critical stakeholders played a meaningful role in the completion of the project,” Goliath said.
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The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber previously expressed its disappointment that consumers and businesses had to bear the additional cost of higher fuel prices to finance it.
The chamber's chief executive, Denise van Huysteen, said consumers in the metro paid R1.66 more per litre for 95 octane petrol, compared to what they would have paid if the area was still a coastal zone.
She says that as far as diesel and paraffin are concerned, the combined additional costs also amounted to R1.66 per litre.
