ONE of the leading tanker manufacturers in South Africa, Tank Clinic, with branches in Johannesburg and KZN, is carving an attractive niche for itself at its Cape Town branch – the manufacture of container tank units for the temporary and remote storage of all kinds of fuel, including aviation fuel.

Containerised units are a developing standard in the storage sector. It allows for secure ‘lock-up and go’ in remote areas. All units are designed around a client’s specification before it is manufactured to South African or international standards, says recently appointed Cape Town project leader Gavin Stander.

The application of uses for these units seems endless with new technology being constantly introduced to keep them above and beyond the current standard for security, safety and convenience. So, for example, they are being installed in rural areas for the storage of paraffin to be used as point of sale to people without access to electricity or even at building sites, as temporary storage facilities for fuel required on site. The unit can be a stand-alone storage from 7 000 to 42 000 litres or combined storage and refuelling unit.

According to Stander these units have proved to be especially successful and cost effective in the aviation fuel storage and supply of fuels for jet and piston driven aircraft.

“Currently demand for these units is very good. You could say we are flying high”, Stander points out that they have successfully been installed in the Cabo Verde islands, Grand Central Airport, Namibia and Botswana and most recently Tanzania. Units have also been built for both Air BP and Shell Aviation that conformed to their strict specifications.

Containerised Refuelling Unit’s (CRU’s) are designed to be a modulated operations unit. As a standalone unit, it serves the purpose of a refueller and, in conjunction with a containerised tank unit, as a dispensing and storage unit. They are designed and built into a standard box container without conflicting with the essence of a box container which makes it viable to transport these units with any conventional container lifting equipment.

An internal steel bund wall is added for spillage protection. The standard container twist-lock doors makes it possible to ‘lock-up and go’ after operations to ensure equipment is safe and secure.

Options for customising the unit’s specific needs include operational functionality such as electrical motors, diesel motors or both to ensure one is always able to deliver. All units are installed with safety equipment/systems to protect the safety of the operator as well as restrict the chances of spillages and loss of product.

Stander says the Cape Town branch is also being kept very busy with maintenance and repairs on traditional tankers such as semis, rigids and interlinks.