FIRM touts rail fuel haulage

African Railway Corporation Malawi Limited, a firm which hauled fuel to Marka in Nsanje from Beira Port in Mozambique on Wednesday by rail, says it has the capacity to bring the product twice a week or 20 million litres a month.

But the firm’s executive chairperson and managing director Davies Lanjesi, in an interview yesterday, appealed to Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) to connect electricity in Marka, a current designated station for the wagons.

He said: “We have the capacity to bring enough fuel from Beira Port to Marka because our train moves at a faster speed such that it takes 12 hours from Beira Port to Marka.

“In addition, we have modern wagons which carry 50 000 litres each, enabling haulage of huge volumes of fuel at once.”

On Wednesday, the firm brought 1.2 million litres of diesel for the National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma).

Lanjesi, former Puma Energy Malawi managing director, said they are currently collaborating with Escom for the installation of a transformer in Marka.

On safety of equipment related to the handling of petroleum products, which normally require storage facilities, metering system and a pump, he said the fuel is being transferred from wagons into tankers using the mobile system of its wagons.

“At the moment, we don’t have a tank at the station, but our innovative mobile system enables pumping and metering of the fuel and ensures smooth transfer from the rail wagons into the tanker. The connected system is exactly the same as the facilities that are required,” he said.

Lanjesi said bringing fuel by rail from Beira to Marka, which is about 310 kilometres (km), will prove cost-efficient to petroleum importers because road transport to Beira covers a distance of not less than 800km.

He said: “It takes almost a week for a tanker to load and bring fuel from the port of Beira, but hauling the commodity from Marka would enable them make several trips within a week considering that it could only take 11 hours for a tanker from Blantyre to load at Marka station and return.”

Meanwhile, eight tankers that were seen parked when President Lazarus Chakwera witnessed the first cargo delivery on the route on Wednesday, loaded and left on the same evening while 15 others were expected to load by last evening, according to Lanjesi.

Transporters Association of Malawi spokesperson Frank Banda, while welcoming the railway project, said yesterday that it has come as a blow to road hauliers who invested a fortune by borrowing to buy trucks.

“Some people borrowed up to K300 million to acquire trucks,” he said.

Nocma chief executive officer Clement Kanyama said the firm is expected to save from cheaper transportation costs of fuel, a saving that will be well calculated later and reflected in the pricing of the commodity as the landing cost forms part of the price buildup.

Commenting on the firm’s request for power, Escom public relations manager Kitty Chingota said yesterday they received an application from Nocma for a transformer in Marka and they are processing the issue.

During the re-launch of the rail line, it was learnt that apart from the space that was prepared to enable tankers to load fuel from the wagons, the Marka designated station is yet to be erected with relevant structures, including water and electricity connections.