Ship remains stranded

2003-08-20 08:41

Cape Town - The container ship Sealand Express that ran aground off Sunset Beach in Milnerton on the Cape Peninsula on Tuesday is still stranded, salvage operation spokesperson Dave Main said.

He said on Wednesday morning four tugs began attempts to refloat the ship the night before.

A helicopter was used to ferry tow lines to the Sealand Express, and the attempt to tow the vessel began at high tide at 20:00 on Tuesday.

However, the container vessel remained wedged close to the shoreline. Besides its cargo of containers, the vessels is also reportedly carrying hazardous material.

The ship, with 1 037 containers and 24 crew on board, ran aground at 06:30am on Tuesday after apparently dragging her anchor during heavy storms on the peninsula.

Renewed attempts were made about 22:00, as salvors Smit Marine hoped to pull the ship off the sand during high tide with the John Ross salvage.

Earlier reports said it was likely that the containers held "hazardous waste".

A News24 source, however, said it was likely the containers mostly held fresh fruit and "white goods" - home appliances.

Sancob on Tuesday night said it was ready to handle any ecological crisi in case of oil leakage. Alan Jardine, CEO of Sancob, said oil on board could cause "terrible damage" to the environment.

the ship would have left Table Bay on Wednesday and would have docked at Newark, a harbour to the west of New York, on September 4.

- SAPA