Marion Island is one of the most remote islands on Earth
The department of forestry, fisheries and the environment has ordered the urgent evacuation of the overwintering team stationed at Marion Island after delays to the SA Agulhas II relief voyage raised fears that critical fuel supplies for the remote base could run out.
Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Willie Aucamp said the decision was taken after disruptions in the supply of additives needed to produce specialised polar diesel threatened the operation of the island’s generators.
Marion Island, a remote South African research base in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean, lies about 2 000km southeast of Cape Town.
Unlike normal diesel, the fuel is designed to withstand the sub-Antarctic temperatures on Marion Island, where ordinary diesel would crystallise.
“With the weather conditions having cleared in Cape Town, the helicopters that will be used for the evacuation of the overwintering team were able to land on the vessel, which is now ready to sail,” the department said on Thursday.
Aucamp said the department could no longer delay action while uncertainty remained over when the fuel additives would become available.
“The voyage delays were caused by the unavailability of crucial fuel products that are mixed with normal diesel and are used to create the special polar diesel required to keep the base running within extremely low outside temperatures that would crystalise normal diesel,” he said.
“As we are unsure when these fuel products will be available, we cannot wait any longer at the expense of the wellbeing of our team. Our people’s lives come first.”
Department spokesperson Zolile Nqayi told the Mail & Guardian on Friday that supply chain disruptions linked to the conflict in the Middle East had affected the availability of the additives required to manufacture the polar diesel.
He said the department had initially believed replacement supplies would be secured. “At the end of April the department was given assurance from some suppliers that additives for producing polar diesel stock were secured.”
However, the department later received confirmation from a Cape Town refinery that it could not produce the fuel because of a national kerosene shortage. At the same time, aviation fuel for the helicopters involved in the operation could not be sourced in Cape Town and had to be transported from Durban.
Nqayi said the base still had enough food supplies, although some items had run low. The main concern was the depletion of polar diesel needed to run generators supplying electricity to the base. Fuel levels were being monitored daily.
The SA Agulhas II, an icebreaking polar supply and research ship owned by the department, was expected to depart on Thursday and arrive at Marion Island on Monday.
The crew is expected to remain at the base for between three and five days before returning to South Africa on 28 May, weather permitting.
The department said the branch: oceans and coasts, together with the department of public works and infrastructure and the department of science, technology and innovation, shared responsibility for ensuring logistical support for overwintering teams.
Nqayi said a full debrief would take place after the vessel’s return and that Aucamp and the department’s director-general would decide whether further investigation into the logistical failures was necessary.
