Tropical Cyclone Disrupts Queensland Coal Shipping

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

March 9 (Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, said its coal shipping operations at Gladstone and Hay Point ports on the Queensland coast have been disrupted by Tropical Cyclone Hamish.

Gladstone port has been shut since 6 a.m. yesterday and rail transport to the site was suspended at 6 p.m. last night, Samantha Evans, a spokeswoman for Melbourne-based BHP, said today in an e-mail.

Shipping is resuming at the more northerly Hay Point terminal owned by BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance, the largest exporter of coal used in steelmaking, after the port reopened at 5 p.m. yesterday, Evans said. Dalrymple Bay port, adjacent to Hay Point, is seeking to resume normal operations after a 24- hour stoppage, owner Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group said.

Australian authorities evacuated resort islands off Queensland’s coast during the weekend and put emergency services on alert as the cyclone brought damaging winds and high seas. The Bureau of Meteorology warned of “very high to phenomenal seas” in areas in the storm’s path.

“We continue to be vigilant with the infrastructure inspections and restart of terminal operations,” Evans said in the email.

Gladstone Port Corp. will review whether to re-open the site later today, said Benita Maudsley, a spokeswoman.

Railway Shut

QR, which operates rail transportation systems in Queensland, said the Blackwater system was closed late yesterday as the cyclone moved south and remained shut at 8:30 a.m. local time today. Services resumed last night on the Goonyella and Newlands coal rail systems, which were shut down late on March 7, said Garry West, a spokesman for the state-owned company.

Ships outside Hay Point that were sent to open waters in advance of the cyclone are making their way back to the port, BHP’s Evans said. QR restarted coal rail transportation on the northern network and the terminal should be ready to receive rail shipments today, she said.

While Dalrymple Bay reopened last night, most of the ships that were queuing to load coal sailed south for calmer waters and have yet to return, said Greg Smith, general manager for operations at the Babcock Infrastructure unit that owns the port. The railway to the site, 38 kilometers (24 miles) south of Mackay, is also yet to return to full operation, he said.

“We’re waiting for ships and rail; the rail system is just starting up as of last night and will probably take a full 24 hours to come back on stream,” Smith said by telephone.

Dalrymple Bay is used by miners including Anglo American Plc, Rio Tinto Group and Macarthur Coal Ltd.

Twenty ships that were waiting outside Dalrymple Bay port to load coal sailed for calmer waters, Smith said. The 19 ships that sailed south are yet to return, while the one that headed north returned this morning, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net