Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo (Pty) Ltd (OTCALULO) and Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) turned the first sod at the site of the Port of Ngqura’s future liquid bulk tank terminal and main access road. This comes ahead of the planned decommissioning and rehabilitation of the existing liquid bulk facilities at the neighbouring 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 terminal is expected to provide storage and marine infrastructure to support the overall petroleum demand projections for South Africa.
OTCALULO’s design caters for a bulk storage capacity of up to 790.000 cbm. Phase 1 will cater for dedicated jetty pipelines, bulk storage for up to 200.000 cbm, road loading with a Vapour 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 planned commissioning is at the end of 2020.
The infrastructure will be designed to provide the following services – 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.
Chief Executive of TNPA, Shulami Qalinge 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 terminal will develop the Port of Ngqura’s liquid bulk capacity for commodities such as petroleum, diesel, jet fuel, illuminated paraffin and liquid petroleum gas. 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,” she said.
Liquid bulk products will be transported to the Port of Ngqura via ship and piped to the tank terminal 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 will start today. 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.
TNPA has already completed Phase 1 of the infrastructure required to service the site, including the detailed design of the new port entrance plaza and the new main access road, as well as the pipeline servitude that will form the link between the new tank terminal and the port.
Phase 2 commenced in November 2018 and includes the land-side development forming the link between the tank terminal and the berth. The port authority will provide infrastructure for the new OTCALULO tank terminal by equipping Berth B100 to function as a liquid bulk berth. It will also construct a new access road from the tank terminal to the berth. TNPA will provide all the associated services and construct a new port entrance on the eastern side of the Couga River.
TNPA concluded an agreement in late 2016 with OTCALULO to plan, fund, construct, own, maintain and operate the new facility after an open and transparent tender process.
OTCALULO is an independent bulk liquid storage provider in South Africa which combines Oiltanking GmbH’s world-class expertise in handling bulk liquids with the local expertise and the full Black Economic Empowerment credentials of Grindrod South Africa (Pty) Ltd and Calulo Terminals (Pty) Ltd.
For more information visit www.oiltanking.com, www.grindrod.co.za, www.calulo.co.za, www.marquard-bahls.com
