13 - 14 OCTOBER 2021: ANOTHER FIRE AT THE PORT OF RICHARDS BAY 

Allan Heydorn of our Richards Bay office reports that there has been a second fire incident at the port of Richards Bay, on 13/14 October 2021, causing extensive damage to the conveyor system.

The port authorities have declared force majeure as per the notice found at https://www.wylie.co.za/LegalNotices.

Updates will follow as and when further information becomes available.

In the meantime, if you have any queries or require any further information, please contact Allan on heydorn@wylie.co.za

11 OCTOBER 2021: FIRE AT THE PORT OF RICHARDS BAY - DISRUPTION OF PORT TERMINAL ACTIVITIES - UPDATE

Allan Heydorn has obtained a copy of the official notice issued today by the Richards Bay port authorities of the fire incident last week.  A copy of the notice may be found at https://www.wylie.co.za/LegalNotices.

The port authorities have confirmed that there was a major fire incident on the main import conveyor at around 22h00 on 6 of October 2021 which resulted in the route collapsing.  This has affected Coking Coal out-loading operations, Alumina and Petcoke out-loading operations and Rail bottom discharge operations.  The port authorities say that Business Continuity plans have been activated, but the operational impact on vessel berthing and/or cargo working has not been disclosed.

If you have any queries or require any further information, please contact Allan at heydorn@wylie.co.za and he will try to obtain more detail from his local contacts.

7 OCTOBER 2021: FIRE AT THE PORT OF RICHARDS BAY - DISRUPTION OF PORT TERMINAL ACTIVITIES

Allan Heydorn of our Richards Bay office has reported that a fire broke out at the clean cargo berths on the northern side of the port of Richards Bay late last night but was extinguished by the early hours of this morning.

Extensive damage was caused to the conveyor system and shipping agents have been advised to not book any further vessels.  Early indications are that the sulphur and alumina conveyors have been incapacitated.

The cause of the fire and extent of the damage are still under investigation.

If you have any queries or require any further information, please contact Allan at heydorn@wylie.co.za