A backlog of ships anchored off the Illawarra coast has grown because of the small coal stockpile and planned maintenance at Port Kembla’s busy coal terminal.
Port Kembla Port Corporation chief executive officer Dom Figliomeni said he could not remember more vessels being queued at once.
‘‘If you really looked at it, ideally you would have one ship at berth and probably three or four at anchor, which is what we used to have until recently,’’ he said.
Fifteen ships at anchor yesterday were waiting to access the Port Kembla Coal Terminal (PKCT).
Mr Figliomeni said the terminal was very busy, which meant any delays had a flow-on effect.
Issues including scheduled maintenance, logistical problems, rail system inadequacies outside the port and industrial action earlier this year might have contributed, he said.
‘‘The stockpile is very small, which means ships have to wait until we can consolidate the cargo.’’
Rail paths into the port and the berth’s high utilisation were both pressing issues.
A similar number of vessels were forced to wait offshore when rolling strike action crippled the terminal in February, although coal terminal general manager Peter Green said the present backlog was unrelated.
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Illawarra Mercury
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