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Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has confirmed that it has resumed loading bunker barges with product at the port of Santos following the recent fire at the Ultracargo terminal.

In an email announcement, the company said yesterday: "Petrobras would like to inform that the loadings of bunker barges in Santos are being resumed by today and Petrobras is doing its utmost efforts to normalize its operations as soon as possible."

The harbour master at Santos had banned ship movements at terminals along the Alemoa docks as a result of the fire. Ships had also been unable to restock with bunker fuel.

Firefighters had been attempting to extinguish the blaze that had engulfed a number of fuel tanks at the Santos facility since Thursday morning.

By Monday, the team of over 100 firefighters managed to extinguish the flames at the facility only to see gasoline in one of the tanks reignite.

Six tanks with a combined capacity of 34,000 cubic meters (214,000 barrels) of ethanol and gasoline were damaged after the fire first broke out on Thursday. Not all the tanks were full when the blaze started.

By Tuesday morning, two of the six fuel tanks at the facility were still on fire with firefighters also focussing on dousing nearby tanks to keep the blaze from spreading.

Trucks heading to the port through the city of Santos on the Anchieta Highway were prevented from entering from midnight on Monday. Authorities said that the entrance would be closed to most trucks until Friday as firefighters contain and clean up after the blaze. On Tuesday, they said that decision would be re-evaluated every 12 hours.

Ultracargo is the largest liquid bulk storage company in Brazil. Its terminal in Santos has 75 tanks and a total storage capacity of 301,300 cubic metres (cbm). The products handled there are fuels, chemicals, vegetable oils, ethanol and corrosive products.