Brazil’s oil major Petrobras has suspended bunker operations at the port of Santos, declaring a force majeure due to a fire at Ultracargo’s fuel tank storage that broke out on Thursday, April 2nd.
The port authority decided to suspend bunker operations as the fire was not extinguished, which led Petrobras to declare a force majeure in bunker operations in Santos.
The six tanks affected by the fire contain gasoline and ethanol, as informed by Ultracargo. The firefighting efforts already in their fifth day were focused on preventing the fire from spreading further.
As a result, the port of Santos closed two of its docks, while the other 53 were operating normally.
“We expect that our operations will be back to normal in two days and the force majeure won’t have an impact on bunker prices,” Platts quoted a Petrobras spokesperson as saying on Monday.
The firefighters evacuated the area and there were no victims reported, according to Ultracargo.
The cause of the fire is yet unknown.
Ultracargo’s Santos facility has a storage capacity of up to 301,300 cubic meters of fuels, chemicals, vegetable oils, ethanol and corrosive products.
World Maritime News Staff