Contingency plans have been made to avoid disruptions to fuel supplies during a planned five-week shutdown of the tanker berth in the Port Elizabeth harbour from Monday.
This will see – once the existing stocks in the harbour’s tank farm are depleted – fuel being distributed to Nelson Mandela Bay and other parts of the province from East London while repairs to the tanker berth are carried out.
Motorists and business people, who face potentially disastrous fuel-supply disruptions if the contingency plans go awry, have been urged not to panic and to be extra vigilant ahead of an anticipated increase in tanker truck traffic on the roads between the two cities.
Two fuel logistics companies with a strong presence in the Bay have warned further that expected fuel price increases in March, among other factors, could lead to disruptions in fuel supply by the middle of the month.
The Transnet National Ports Authority has confirmed that repairs at the fuel tanker berth in the Port of Port Elizabeth are scheduled to start on Monday and end on March 25.
Both the Ports Authority in the Bay and oil companies distributing fuel in and from the metro have made plans to mitigate the challenges arising from the relocation of the regional fuel distribution point.
But despite this, concerns have been raised about potential disruptions to supply in the Bay and the additional costs of trucking in the fuel to the metro, as well as possible loading bottlenecks in East London and extended delivery times.
In one instance, oil company Engen has told its commercial clients that the additional costs involved in now distributing fuel from East London will not be subsidised.
The Bay port operator has also said it bears no financial responsibility, other than the costs of repairing its facility.
In correspondence seen by The Herald, Engen also told its clients that it anticipated the potential for delivery delays.
According to Shell retailers in Port Elizabeth, however, not much impact is expected on Shell’s ability to distribute fuel as the company had already been distributing fuel from East London and Mossel Bay since about November.
The Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) said the steel structures supporting the access walkway on the tanker berth required reinforcement due to corrosion and it had decided to effect repairs following stakeholder consultation.
“The TNPA has made this decision after extensive consultation with the oil companies [liquid bulk terminal operators operating out of the Port Elizabeth tank farm] and Sapia [South African Petroleum Industry Association],” port manager Rajesh Dana said.
“The TNPA will meet the oil companies weekly during the repair period to share progress and address any challenges.
“This will only affect the tanker berth and during this repair period no vessels will be allowed to berth at the said structure to discharge cargo.
“The tank farm land-side operations of supplying local fuel outlets will continue.
“The oil companies have assured the TNPA that they have mitigation measures in place to ensure uninterrupted fuel supply to Nelson Mandela Bay.”
Fuel major Caltex said it would be “business as usual” for its customers.
Dana said the port authority had encouraged the oil companies to ramp up on their stock holdings ahead of the shutdown.
Besides the preparation measures taken by Bay oil companies, there was sufficient capacity in the Port of East London’s liquid bulk terminals, he said.
“This matter is receiving our priority attention,” he said.
Caltex said it had been notified well in advance of the planned shutdown.
“It’s business as usual,” Caltex Eastern Cape marketing chief operating officer Pat Kelly said, adding that an extensive amount of time had been dedicated towards ensuring that the impact on motorists would be minimised.
“Plans are in place to transport fuel from the East London terminal for the latter part of the scheduled closure.
“Caltex Eastern Cape is confident we will be able to meet the requirements of the various sites as we have our own fleet of tankers that will be transporting the fuel between East London and Port Elizabeth.
“We have secured extra tankers that will assist with the alleviation of any additional pressure on the logistics due to the extra distance added by collecting fuel from the East London terminal,” Kelly said.
“We encourage motorists to take heed of the increase of traffic this will bring about and ask for their patience when travelling between [the cities] during this period.
“Please do not go into panic mode as a rush at the pumps will have a negative impact on the plans in place.”
Kelly said the majority of Caltex’s sites were equipped with generators to mitigate the effects of load-shedding.
The reaction from fuel retailers in Port Elizabeth was mixed, but many expressed the possibility of delivery delays.
The senior manager of a Bay fuel distribution company, who did not want to be named, was one of them.
“Firstly, East London can hardly handle existing business
and those loading fuel currently in East London experience long delays and frequent stockouts, which will become impossible when all the fuel companies from PE are having to fetch from there,” he said.
“Secondly, all fuel companies are affected.
“The add-on cost, which in most cases will have to be borne by the consumer, are around 40 cents a litre from East London, 40 cents plus from Mossel Bay and around 70c a litre from Cape Town.”
However, Gary Mackenzie, who owns Triangle Service Centre on Walmer Boulevard, which also refuels long-distance buses and other large vehicles, said the berth closure would not affect his 24-hour, generator-equipped business.
“Shell has been delivering here from East London and Mossel Bay since November.
“They have excellent logistics capacity and I do not anticipate any problems,” he said.
Express Petroleum CEO Russell Wells said while there were still a number of challenges remaining, his company had taken steps towards mitigating supply disruptions.
“We already collect fuel from areas such as Mossel Bay and there are challenges in doing that.
“The transportation-on costs are also among the problems, with some oil majors assisting financially and others not indicating yet whether they will.
“Potentially, the biggest challenge will be any fuel price increases during early March, which could result in a run on fuel,” he said.
Wells said this could lead to disruptions in supply.