Ramos calls for port safety checks after Durban fire

TRANSNET CHIEF executive officer Maria Ramos said in Cape Town last week that special safety checks would be carried out at all ports following the devastating fire at the Durban Island View complex. Ramos, who said she had been kept informed throughout the night, said that port and city emergency fire services, disaster management teams and port authorities should meet regularly to ensure that contingency plans were up to date and in place. Her comments followed Durban harbour’s worst ever fire last Tuesday evening, which broke out with a series of explosions at the sprawling Island View petrochemical complex housing over 1000 storage tanks containing a veritable cocktail of chemicals and oil products for import and export. The fire raged fiercely for about five hours as emergency services first cordoned off the area and then began evacuating both the complex and a section of the neighbouring suburb of the Bluff. Police patrolled the streets broadcasting warnings to residents to vacate their homes immediately and congregate at churches and sports halls, where many spent the night. Meanwhile fire services fought the blaze, which was confined to one section of Island View Storage owned by Bidvest. Eight tanks were either burned out or severely damaged. By morning the fires were out except for one tank which continued to burn most of the day as firemen allowed it to extinguish itself. Shortly after the fire began, ships on berth at Island View were moved to the outer anchorage and as a precautionary measure container working at Pier 1 and Durban Container Terminals was halted. Container working resumed the next morning but ships only returned to Island View berths during Thursday. There is no indication as yet what effect if any the fire will have on petrochemical imports and exports. It is thought the fire began with a road vehicle but this has not been confirmed. Nor have the contents of the eight tanks been revealed, with authorities hiding behind the fact that the terminal is a national key point. This is despite requests for information on atmospheric toxicity levels experienced both during the fire and afterwards. It was later learned that hundreds of dead fish were seen floating in the waters of the Island View basin, which is normally closed to the public.