Petrol woes ease as pipeline fixed

THE massive fuel shortage which has severely disrupted Nelson Mandela Bay since last week eased after repairs to the Port Elizabeth Harbour's tanker berth terminal were completed at the weekend.

But it could still take two weeks for the situation to normalise and for all petrol pumps to be refilled.

Motorists hit panic mode at the weekend as many filling stations across the Bay and some smaller nearby towns either ran completely dry or were on the brink of doing so.

Some fuel stations were limiting motorists to R200 petrol.

The fuel shortage occurred after the Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) began emergency maintenance on fuel infrastructure at its ore and tanker berth.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber said the effect the fuel shortage had on businesses in and around the metro was immeasurable, but could have cost turnover losses of hundreds of thousands of rands.

Several Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage filling stations contacted yesterday were completely out of all types of fuel while others said they had received deliveries on Saturday but were unsure how long it would last due to the rush by motorists to fill up.

Humansdorp was among nearby towns affected.

Sherwood Humansdorp manager Mark Coletti said the pumps at the Engen filling station ran dry last week but were eventually topped up at the weekend.

"We get our fuel from Port Elizabeth so it has a huge effect on us as well."

While the harbour berth was out of commission, fuel companies had to divert tankers to East London and Mossel Bay and then truck the fuel back to the Bay.

Transnet said yesterday that tankers were expected to start docking at the port again within the next few days. TNPA Port Elizabeth spokeswoman Margorie Makama said a media briefing would be held in the city at midday today.

Port Elizabeth port manager Rajesh Dana said the repairs to the berth structure were completed at 2am on Saturday.

"The repairs entailed the installation of support structures for the oil companies' pipelines and the reinforcement of header beams supporting a catwalk [which connects the berth]," he said.

The need for urgent repairs came to light during a routine inspection of the berth.

"The jetty was officially handed over to the oil companies at 2.30pm [on Saturday] for the reinstatement of operations," Dana said.

Caltex Eastern Cape marketer chief executive Clive Berlyn said it could still take up to two weeks for the situation to normalise.

"Fuel ships that should have docked in PE have been diverted to East London and Mossel Bay. The challenge is getting the fuel back to Port Elizabeth."

Business Chamber chief executive Kevin Hustler said there was still concern that it could take several days for the fuel to be shipped to Port Elizabeth and then dispersed.

He said the impact on businesses in and around the Bay was immeasurable.

"Despite contingency plans being put in place it is evident that they were not sufficient. This is largely due to late communication to fuel companies regarding the closure of the berth," Hustler said.

"We are also concerned that the fuel industry claimed to have 15 days' reserves in the tanks and that this was not an accurate reflection of the situation.

"At least 75% of [filling] stations were short of at least one line of fuel during this period while some ran completely dry.

"It will take about a month to gauge the actual damage and knock-on effect this has had on local businesses.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that this will only be resolved at around Christmas time," he said. - Gareth Wilson