The new liquid bulk fuel and gas terminal at the port of Ngqura should begin operating at the end of this year.According to Ngqura port manager Tandi Lebakeng, Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) is providing port infrastructure for the terminal.It is being built and will be operated by Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo (OTCALULO) and will handle commodities such as petroleum, diesel, jet fuel, illuminated paraffin and liquid petroleum gas. OTCA LULO’s desig n caters for a bulk storage capacity of up to 790 000 cubic metres (cbm) of liquid bulk.In the first phase the facility will be capable of storing up to 200 000 cbm of liquid.Included in the first phase is the building of dedicated jetty pipelines, road loading with a Vapor Recovery Unit (VRU), state-of-the-art firefighting facilities and site drainage facilities. Provision has been made for the receipt, storage and distribution of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). The planned commissioning is at the end of 2020, according to Mkhuseli Faku, chairman of OTCALULO.The portside infrastructure will accommodate vessels of up to 100 000 deadweight tons.The new terminal will be able to handle larger volumes than the current terminal in the port of Port Elizabeth because Ngqura has a deeper draught, which allows it to handle much larger vessels. This means it could become a major distribution hub for fuel into the hinterland. Once the new facility is operational there could be a tug of war over the future of the existing ore terminal, which is overshadowed by the manganese dump.Transnet has announced plans to turn it into a dedicated car terminal, while the local business chamber wants a waterfront. Time will tell. After the commissioning of the Ngqura facility, the PE Tank Farm operators will wind down operations over a four-month period, after which the decommissioning and rehabilitation will commence. TNPA and these operators are working closely to finalise a decommissioning and remediation plan, to be approved by the Department of Environmental Affairs. According to the Waste Act the current operators are responsible for the demolition and rehabilitation of the land, according to a TNPA statement. The rehabilitated land is to be handed back to TNPA in a condition that complies with the relevant legislation and Transnet’s Sustainable Development Strategy for further development. It is estimated that the decommissioning and rehabilitation will take between 36 and 48 months.
