Sunrise Energy regrets to inform the public that rough, stormy seas and
adverse weather conditions will delay deliveries of liquified petroleum gas
(LPG) at its terminal at Saldanha Bay Port. As a result, the terminal expects
to deplete supplies or ‘stock out’ of LPG today, Wednesday 25 August.
An extreme cold front is expected to make landfall on Thursday morning.
High sea swells ahead of the cold front have caused the Port Authority to
suspend entry to the port. As a consequence of the Port Authority’s decision,
ships carrying LPG destined for delivery to the Sunrise Energy facility has
been unable to berth at our Marine Offloading Facility using our Multi-Buoy
Mooring (MBM) point this week. One of the LPG supply ships was delayed in loading its cargo in Chile
before departing for Saldanha Bay, also because of the stormy weather
conditions. This delay meant that it was unable to discharge its LPG cargo
before the rough seas arrived on the West Coast, thereby preventing the
vessel’s entry to the Saldanha Bay port.
Maximum swells of 2.5 to 2.7m have already been reported inside the Port
Channel, with 20 knot wind speeds. Weather alerts report that poor
weather conditions can be expected for the next 10 days. The Ports Authority will be monitoring the weather on an hourly basis
and will try to berth the ship at the first possible opportunity.
We are proud that Sunrise Energy’s MBM infrastructure has performed
faultlessly throughout this winter. We also have full confidence that the Port
Authority will grant permission for LPG supply ships to safely enter the port
and berth as soon as reasonably possible and safe to do so.
