10 °C

88 %

11 m/s

A severe storm hit the Maltese Islands with gale force winds, high waves and heavy rainfall for a number of hours.

The EVOS Ltd. company took the necessary precautions by:
- halting all operations;
- removing berthed ships;
-emptying all pipelines from fuel; and
-evacuating all personnel.

No injuries

No environmental damage, no fuel spills

- Economic losses due to the temporary suspension of the oil and gas bunkering operations at the Marsaxlokk terminal.
- Economic losses due to the repair of the damage at the pipelines on the jetties, metal structures, lighting poles and loading arms
- Damages, clean-up, repairs, testing costs in excess of €2M (as reported in the eMARS database).

Industrial areas (e.g. factories)

The company took the following three precaution measures to the equipment to successfully avoid the Natech accident, i.e.:
- halting all operations;
- removing berthed ships;
-emptying all pipelines from fuel.

The company's equipment further entails the following safety measures:
- independent overfill protection;
- leak detection.

Natech accident was avoided thanks to the precaution measures taken by the EVOS Ltd. company prior to the landing of the storm to the bunkering tank terminal.
Thus, no damage was induced to the storage tanks and the associated infrastructure. Also, the fire fighting system supplying the storage tanks was intact.

- All necessary precaution measures were taken before the storm hit.
- The COMAH Competent Authority was informed of the situation, in particular the Civil Protection Department.
- No external emergency services were called into action.
- The developing situation was closely monitored by the EVOS Ltd. company's senior management.