Cargo ship’s oil spill puts wildlife at risk in Cape

More equipment was being readied to contain an oil spill by a ship that ran aground and started to break apart in stormy weather on the West Coast, though there were no signs of affected wildlife yet, authorities said on Monday.

Rough sea swells have battered the Panama-flagged general cargo vessel Ultra Galaxy since it drifted onto a sand bank three weeks ago close to Doring Bay, 300km north of Cape Town, after the ship’s crew abandoned the vessel when it started taking on water.

“Salvage operations are continuing and more equipment is being mobilised to contain the oil spill,” SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) spokesperson Tebogo Ramatjie said.

The spill took place at the weekend when the ship broke into four sections, with waves almost 7m high crashing into the wreck every 15 seconds at one stage, Samsa said.

A salvage team has managed to remove several lube oil drums and about eight tonnes of marine gas oil from the wreck’s fuel tanks. Samsa said there were about 500 tonnes of fuel aboard the vessel that needed to be removed.

“We haven’t yet received any reports of oiled wildlife and there have not been reported sightings of oiled wildlife at this stage,” Monica Stassen of seabird conservation group Sanccob said.

The spill happened along a corridor endangered African penguins traverse when migrating from South Africa to Namibian waters, she said.

Pollution could also threaten the Olifants River estuary further south, one of SA’s largest and home to flamingoes, herons and other water birds, Stassen said.

An oil spill contingency plan was immediately launched and about 125 people from local communities are helping with mopping up operations, Ramatjie said earlier.

US-based Resolve Marine, initially appointed to handle the salvage operation, has been replaced by Smit International, he said. 

Reuters