Bloomberg reported that Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group owner of Australia’s second biggest coal export terminal expects to resume loading ships at the port in Queensland after a stoppage due to a tropical cyclone.

Mr Greg Smith GM of operations at the Babcock Infrastructure unit that owns the port said that all the ships that sailed away from Dalrymple Bay to escape a tropical cyclone have now returned to the site except for one. He said that rail deliveries of the coal to the port, south of Mackay, remain disrupted after a train accident earlier in the week.

Australian authorities evacuated resort islands off Queensland’s coast during the weekend and put emergency services on alert as Tropical Cyclone Hamish brought damaging winds and high seas. The storm has since abated to a low weather system and is continuing to weaken as it moves northwest back up the Queensland coast, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Mr Smith said that “In terms of ship loading, provided the ground-swell has come down enough for the harbor master to be comfortable we will berth ships as soon as we are able to. We have those five assembled cargoes, those ships are there, so we are all ready to roll.”

Coal rail deliveries, which were halted March 10 after a train derailment at rail company QR’s Coppabella yard in central Queensland, resumed yesterday afternoon before being stopped again, Smith said. The rail system supplying the port may be out of action until about 10 p.m. local time tonight, Smith said.

(Sourced from Bloomberg.net)