ORTIA fuel crisis: Logistics plan put in place
The Department of Transport says a logistics plan for transporting jet fuel from the Port of Durban to OR Tambo International Airport has been given the green light.
The airport has been experiencing a shortage of jet fuel since the National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa had to shut down in January after it caught fire.
The department’s spokesperson, Collen Msibi, said on Saturday the opening jet fuel stock at the airport was 20.1 million litres.
"An additional 59 million litres of jet fuel have been injected into the pipeline in the last week, 28 January 2025, and this volume will arrive at ORTIA by 06 February 2025. This volume may necessitate the removal of the current restrictions on Airlines and bring the fuel supply closer to normal operations.
"The 71.5 million litres of jet fuel will be imported into Durban via three vessels expected to arrive on 05 February and 10 February. The imported fuel will then be transported to ORTIA via pipeline. The total available stock in February is 150.6 million litres. This means there is no longer any shortage of jet fuel for refuelling of airlines across ORTIA."
"The fuel industry has also agreed to establish a mechanism to share across contracted airlines so that any airline whose supplier runs short is able to access from a non-contracted supplier."
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