OR Tambo 7 Million Litres of Fuel Contaminated

[*ace*]

How does one get ride of fuel thats contaminated?

Story Here

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Johannesburg - The fuel pipeline to the OR Tambo International Airport has been contaminated and rendered unfit for use by airlines, the Airports Company SA (Acsa), said on Thursday.

"The impact of the contamination on the fuel pipeline is such that approximately seven million litres of fuel, which is currently in storage, is unusable, reducing OR Tambo International Airport's stock levels from four days to 1.6 days," Acsa spokesperson Solomon Makgale said in a statement.

He said Acsa had been advised by the Fuel Consortium that the fuel line between the National Petroleum Refiners of SA (Natref) refinery in Sasolburg and the airport had been contaminated with "off-specification Jet A-1".

The airport normally receives about three million litres of fuel a day through the dedicated pipeline from Natref, said Makgale.

"Acsa, together with its airline stakeholders, is engaging the fuel suppliers on what measures can be taken to maintain the supply of jet fuel at OR Tambo International Airport," he said.

"An announcement in this regard will be made tomorrow morning."

Makgale said an airport management team was working with domestic and international airlines on various measures, including the uptake of fuel at Acsa's other network of airports.

"These are aimed at minimising the impact on airlines, passengers and overall airport operations.

"At this point in time, the airport is operating normally and the same is expected tomorrow.

"We remain hopeful that the fuel suppliers will find a solution as a matter of urgency. Acsa will provide all the necessary support," he said.

 

[Dippies]

this is a disaster for the guys that will be flying. :fencelook:

 

[GregSW]

Who pays for the wasted 7 million litres????
:fencelook:

 

[ambroseg1]

assuming each litre costs R10, that is R70 million down the drain.

At least they still got R4.93 billion of the bail out money from the tax payer :=):

 

[Blue Shirt]

I am pretty sure the suppliers will be liable for the losses as it appears that the contamination with off-spec fuel came from their side.

Besides, ACSA is a separate company from SAA and has nothing to do with the R5b loan guarantees extended to SAA.

 

[bimmer330]

Anyone working at OR Tambo like myself knows that ACSA does not maintain anything.

 

[mo_s]

shiat thats a lot of fuel to contaminate..lol if twas diesel or petrol, would fill a 60L tank once a week for 2235.96 years..if my math is correct...lol

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

ja, just waste it, why not, tax payers will just cough up again.

 

[dvst8]

Oh fark ! Im flying out of SA on the 25th !

:fencelook:

 

[maximus]

:flyfun:

 

[herr bmw]

can they not re-filter this fuel?

 

[MikeR]

:fencelook: I believe the Onus is with NATREF they would have to carry the cost, from projects Ive done with them they have to maintain all supply's and dispensed to ACSA at point. ie into their fuel tankers.
So along the way they must have piped wrong fuel to the wrong storage facility. :argh:

They should be able to use that fuel elsewhere or take it back into the system to be reworked.

 

[Twinz]

I am sure the fuel can be reused for another purpose...:thumbs:

Would love to get a couple thousand liters though...:idea:

 

[calypso]

Jet fuel from what I remember is closer to diesel then petrol, quite different from AVgas. Turbine engines don't care much for what they burn. From what I understand Jet A was mixed into a Jet A1 tank, one has a higher freezing point and some other safety ratings. So in would think that it could still be used as the lower grade rating, but it's not good enough to be used as the higher rated jet fuel.

 

[Pr0PheT]

The airlines have a 20% reduction in their daily uplift so most international carriers will be tankering from their home bases. There shouldn't be any cancelled flights because of this.

 

[zaleonardz]

for this kind of money, they would refine it for sure.

 

[racing snake]

not cool...

i would definitely consider myself eligible for a few thousand liters of course - we all gotta do our part you know...:rollsmile:

 

[Peter@AEW]

Anyone working at OR Tambo like myself knows that ACSA does not maintain anything.

Do not talk k@k here please. If you wish to engage in k@k talk please go here:http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=35359

ACSA are experts at maintaining their high bonuses for the select as well as maintaining high salaries and benefits for the selected few.


:bangdesk:

 

[Pr0PheT]

I hope they decide to sell it to garages and mix it with 95 octane ... that ought to give quite a boost ..

 

[Andy1GP]

It's causing huge shite at the airport. All non scheduled traffic are denied fuel until further notice. So all the small charters are kinda screwed.

Our weekly flights have been canned until further notice as well. Today was our last flight till friday, maybe later.

It's become a rare commodity all of a sudden, so the operators are only allowed xxx % of what they normally require. Anything extra not allowed, or "special price"

Huge stuff up.

Not sure if and when they going to refine it if at all, and when anything is happening.