A fire that broke out on the woodchips route of the Richards Bay Bulk Terminal has damaged 80 m of two conveyor belts at the facility, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) has confirmed.
The sprinkler system and the terminal’s emergency response, however, managed to limit the damage caused by the fire, sparing the rest of the structure.
TPT said that, to ensure continuity and in agreement with the customer, the vessel on berth at the time was diverted to the Durban Multipurpose Terminal for loading export woodchips.
TPT noted that all teams are on site repairing the damaged belts to ensure operations can resume before the end of the week. An investigation is also under way to establish the cause of the fire.
Woodchip fires are notoriously ferocious and difficult to extinguish, especially when they are fanned by the wind, TPT emphasises.
Previously, a massive woodchip fire at the nearby Natal Cooperative Timbers (NCT) Richards Bay facility ignited on September 30, 2023, raging on until October 12, 2023, when it was finally extinguished.
The 2023 fire destroyed 200 000 t of woodchips and caused severe damage to the facility’s infrastructure, requiring the combined efforts of multiple firefighting teams and local businesses to bring it under control.
It took more than a year for the damaged NCT woodchipping lanes to return to normal production levels. 
