Portnet blames burst water pipe
A LARGE section of berth at Island View collapsed into Durban Harbour early this month, resulting in the closure of two berths (5 and 6) for an indefinite period.
Portnet confirmed that 30 metres of quay wall between the two berths collapsed. It was due, they say, to a burst water pipe resulting in a build-up of water pressure in the surrounding area. It is thought that the municipal water pipe has been in place for at least thirty years.
Engineers were deployed immediately to the site to establish how much damage had occurred while a team of divers was employed to conduct an underwater survey. Bollards 41 and 42 have disappeared into the harbour.
According to reports received by FTW the section of land behind the quay wall that subsided into the harbour has exposed two oil pipelines, which fortunately were not in use. Portnet says it is confident that no threat of an oil spill exists but they have nevertheless erected a floating oil boom to contain any oil - 'just in case'.
No injuries have been reported and at this stage Portnet is unable to assess the cost of the damage. Operations at berths 5 and 6 will however be limited during the repair operation, which is likely to take several months.
Berth 6 is used mainly for petroleum products and is restricted to smaller vessels including those carrying liquid petroleum gas. Although the berth has chemical lines it is believed these are not often in use. Berth 5 on the other hand is normally used for chemical products.
By Terry Hutson
Copyright Now Media (Pty) Ltd
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