Coal explosion under investigation

A MASSIVE operation is in progress to remove burning coal from a bulk carrier which was loaded two weeks ago at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT).

The problem reportedly first manifested itself when methane gas ignited spontaneously and exploded in one of the vessel’s hatches.

Investigations into the cause are in progress, with the possibility that coal transferred from the terminal stockpiles might already have been at excessive temperature.

The ‘Cecilia B’, a Japanese-owned vessel registered in Panama, is docked at berth 306.

A mobile crane is being deployed for the arduous task of discharging the product from the carrier.

According to website Maritime Connector, the 229 metre-long ship was only built last year in Japan and is able to carry up to 43 013 gross tonnes of cargo.

It remains unclear exactly how much tonnage of coal was on board when the blaze occurred or what the structural damage is to the vessel.

A shipping source told the Zululand Observer that product loss, damage and legal actions linked to the calamity could run up to hundreds of millions of rand, with a number of parties affected by the incident.

RBCT was unable to respond at the time of going to print.

An International Energy Agency report explains that the spontaneous combustion is caused by the oxidation of the coal, influenced by the mineral’s volatile content, rank, heat capacity as well as its oxygen and pyrite content.

Coal that spontaneously combusts tends to increase with decreasing rank, such as lower ranked lignites rather than high quality anthracite coal mostly mined in Zululand.

‘The increasing international trade in both metallurgical and steam coal has led to renewed interest in the potential for spontaneous combustion to occur during transport, particularly by bulk carrier,’ says the report.

‘This problem is becoming greater as the tonnage of lower-rank coals transported by both rail and sea is increasing.’