ST. EUSTATIUS/THE HAGUE--NuStar is considering a slightly adapted location for the new US $120 million jetty that it plans to build in St. Eustatius. The jetty which should be part of the oil terminal's proposed expansion might be placed more northwards.
This would move the jetty a bit more away from Lower Town, according to NuStar's General Manager of the Statia oil terminal Mike McDonald. The reason to move the jetty 185 meter northwards mainly has to do with the water depth, but the new option would also benefit residents as the jetty would become less visible.
The water at the original proposed area is not deep enough for very large crude carriers, so-called VLCC's which need a depth of at least 30 metres. The jetty will be constructed in an L-shape. The long leg will measure 1,260 metres and the short side which will bend towards NuStar's existing 920 metre long jetty will measure 480 metres.
Just as in the current jetty, NuStar will use transparent materials to minimise the visual impact. Also, soft lighting will be installed to make it less visible at night. The painting will be done in close cooperation with the landscaping architects.
A second jetty is necessary because the existing jetty is used up to its capacity and a new structure would be needed to accommodate the vessels that would make use of the expanded terminal in The Farm area, NuStar's Vice-president International Terminal Operations David Smith told The Daily Herald in a recent interview.
NuStar wants to build a second terminal in The Farm area with some 31 storage tanks of three different sizes because of increased international demand for bunkering. The largest tanks would be able to hold up to 650,000 barrels, the medium 427,000 barrels and the small ones 94,000 barrels.
No building permit request has been submitted yet as negotiations with the Island Government and the customers who would be leasing the tanks have not been concluded yet. "We are still in the planning stage," said General Manager McDonald. If the project goes ahead, construction could take place in two phases.
More tanks and an increased volume of products means more ships and these vessels need to moor to charge and discharge. The five existing berthing spaces would not suffice. The new jetty would increase the number of berthing spaces by four. However, three berthing spaces would initially be commissioned with the possibility to take the fourth into use at a later time.
NuStar's current jetty has two berthing spaces for ships of up to 160,000 Dead Weight Tonnes (DWT) and measuring up to 276 metres in length. The single point mooring situated over a mile out at sea accommodates very large vessels of up to 520,000 DWT and 415 metres in length.
There is also one berthing space at the monopole for ships that are slightly bigger than 160,000 DWT, but it is not used very much, and one berthing space at the floating hose station. The last one is mainly used to fuel NuStar's barges which in turn fuel ships, including cruise ships in St. Maarten.
NuStar recently started construction of five new storage tanks at the location of its current terminal. The tanks with a total storage capacity of one million barrels are for an existing customer who needed more space. Some 300,000 cubic metres of rock had to be taken out to flatten the area in preparation for construction.
The project, for which advertisements were recently placed in local newspapers to seek sub-contractors, will be built according to PGS 29 standards. This Dutch building code is very strict. Dutch construction company Verwater is the main contractor. Construction should be completed in September 2012.
