OILTANKING Grindrod Calulo (OTGC) and Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) recently turned the first sod at the site of the Port of Ngqura’s future liquid bulk tank farm.
This comes ahead of the planned decommissioning and rehabilitation of the existing liquid bulk facilities at the neighboring Port of Port Elizabeth, which will pave the way for Ngqura’s establishment as a new petroleum trading hub for southern Africa.
The new tank farm is expected to provide storage and marine infrastructure to support the overall petroleum demand projections for South Africa. The sod-turning ceremony was attended by oil industry principals and government officials.
Speaking at the event, Mkhuseli Faku, Chairman of OTGC said the terminal would be built to “the highest international safety standards and provide exceptional service to its customers. OTGC looks forward to becoming a contributing member of the Nelson Mandela Bay community and expects to continue on its growth path in the years ahead.”
Port Manager of the Port of Ngqura, Tandi Lebakeng welcomed the start of construction. “As the port landlord, TNPA is providing port infrastructure for the liquid bulk terminal to commence operations at the end of 2020. The new tank farm will develop the Port of Ngqura’s liquid bulk capacity for commodities such as petroleum, diesel, jet fuel, illuminated paraffin and liquid petroleum gas,” she said.
“Once operational, the terminal will facilitate substantially increased throughputs over present volumes handled at Port Elizabeth due to Ngqura’s deeper draught which allows it to handle much larger vessels. The allocated 20 Ha site also provides ample space for future expansion of the terminal.”
Liquid bulk products will be transported to the Port of Ngqura via ship and piped to the tank farm prior to local supply and/or local and global re-export. The new modern facility will service the oil majors, new entrants into the South African oil industry as well as international traders – all supporting the local shipping industry.
To date the contract for Bulk Earthworks has been awarded and this activity will begin immediately. Civil, mechanical and electrical contractors will be appointed shortly, and they will be employing from within the community and developing skills within the construction industry. It is anticipated that 500 local jobs will be created during the construction phase of the project. The total number of permanent staff required for the terminal would be in the region of 50, the company said.
Phase 1 will cater for dedicated jetty pipelines, bulk storage for up to 200.000 cbm, 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 infrastructure will be designed to to accommodate vessel sizes of up to 100.000 deadweight tonnage, road loading facilities, inter-tank transfer/recirculation facilities, stock accounting in real time, office facilities for customers and an independent laboratory.