Transnet plans logistics park for Ngqura

Transnet plans to establish a logistics park within the Ngqura port boundaries. The park is part of Transnet’s plans for the port of Ngqura, in which the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) is planning to invest R7 billion up to 2019, according to Rajesh Dana, manager of the port of Port Elizabeth. Briefing FTW on behalf of TNPA chief executive Tau Morwe, Dana said the port in 2019 would include a four-berth container terminal and transhipment hub, bulk handling equipment for manganese exports, a liquid bulk terminal, and a small craft basin. Operation of the liquid bulk and bulk terminals will be put out to tender, as will the management of the container terminal for which Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) has a three-year licence. For the first time TNPA has revealed plans for a mooted oil refinery in the Coega Industrial Development Zone. “The Port of Ngqura supports Project Mthombo and does not envisage any constraints in enabling and complementing the project,” said Dana. If the project goes ahead the port would need to be able to handle the offloading of crude feedstock, and the loading of finished product for distribution through the Durban-Gauteng pipeline and other South African ports. Depending on volumes, the unloading and loading would either take place through a floating buoy system offshore, or within the port itself. If the original plans for a 400 000-barrel-per-day facility go ahead, the refinery would need to be fed by very large crude carriers, which are too big for the port of Ngqura. Any plans for a single point mooring facility in Algoa Bay and near the world’s largest African penguin colony is likely to encounter strong resistance from environmentalists. Dana says Transnet is, however, confident that the risks of a spill can be managed. Within the port itself, the new liquid bulk terminal and tank farm would have the capacity to cater for the volumes, he says. A final decision on Mthombo, which is a joint venture between PetroSA and the government-owned China Petroleum Corporation (Sinopec), is currently the subject of a business case study. If it goes ahead, the refinery will be commissioned between 2018 and 2020. CAPTION Rajesh Dana, manager of the port of Port Elizabeth, briefing FTW on the plans for the ports of Ngqura and Port Elizabeth.