On Wednesday 12 July, petrol was delivered in the diesel tanks to both Circle K in Olden and at Nordfjordeid. Fortunately, the error was quickly discovered, but for an unlucky tour bus, it was far too late. – Mixing products at the station must not happen. We have a number of barriers to prevent this, but unfortunately a human error has occurred here. This is what Circle K’s communications manager, Knut Hilmar Hansen, told news. It was the tanker driver who filled the tanks who himself discovered the error. – He notified the central office so that we immediately shut down the fuel pumps, Hansen states and further says that both driver and transporter take the incident very seriously, and are followed up by representatives of Circle K. Americans stuck at Utvikfjellet Hansen says there was only one customer who filled up in the time from the event until the fault was discovered. – But that’s one customer too many. This was a bus filled with travel-loving tourists from the USA. They had just been on a trip to Briksdalsbreen and were going further west over Utvikfjellet. On the way up the mountain, however, the bus driver began to notice that something was wrong. Still completely unaware of the fuel exchange. – The hill up went well at first, but then there was a bit of “sag” in the bus as we approached the viewpoint on Utvikfjellet. So we stopped there, and when we were to start again we couldn’t start the engine, explains Hans Kristian Bjerkestuen. He is the day-to-day manager of HKB Turbuss. Bjerkestuen says that the tourists stayed at the site for two or three hours, before they were picked up by a bus from Firda Billag and taken to their next destination at the Fretheim hotel in Flåm. The damaged tourist bus was picked up by a tow truck and taken to a workshop in Stryn. Here the fuel mixture was emptied, the filter changed and the tanks filled with diesel without petrol. The very next day, the bus was back in operation. – But it is not lucky to get petrol for a new diesel engine, so we are a little excited about the future of the engine, says Bjerkestuen. Here the tourist bus is picked up by car parkers at Utvikfjellet. Photo: Private Circle K takes the bill In Olden and in Nordfjordeid, all petrol and diesel had to be sucked up from the tanks and destroyed. At Circle K Nordfjordeid alone, between seven and eight thousand liters of fuel were destroyed. With a price per liter of NOK 15 to 16, these are costs of between NOK 105,000 and 128,000. Communications manager Hansen says that they are still working to get a full overview of what has happened, and that it is too early to say what the total costs will be. Hans Kristian Bjerkestuen at HKB Turbuss says that there was both a lot of extra work and extra costs for them. He speculates on a total sum of between NOK 50,000 and 70,000. Circle K will foot the bill, says Hansen. – Our practice is that customers who have to have their car in a workshop due to a fault with our fuel are entitled to have the costs covered by us. – What is important for us now is to take care of those who are injured. Customers, as well as drivers and transport companies, says communications manager at Circle K, Knut Hilmar Hansen. Photo: KNUT ARE TORNÅS / news Bjerkestuen says he is satisfied with how Circle K has handled the incident, but points out that things like this should not happen: – I just have to praise Circle K, who quickly came out and took the blame for what had happened. They laid flat, and subsequently contacted us and promised to make up for all financial matters. – Do they understand that such incidents can happen? – No, we don’t have that. It is the first time it has happened that we have received the wrong fuel at the pump. So it was a very special experience.
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Tourist bus had engine problems after a diesel mistake – news Vestland
