Ship's fate to be decided

2006-07-25 14:07

East London - A decision on the fate of the stricken Safmarine Agulhas in East London would be taken later this week, said the salvage company on Tuesday.

The cargo removal operations on the Agulhas came to a 48-hour standstill on Monday and Tuesday, when bad weather endangered salvers.

"A decision will be made at the end of this week as to the future of the vessel," said Smith Salvage spokesperson Clare Gomes.

She said the cargo removal operations had been temporarily halted because of adverse weather.

"The cargo removal was suspended because the vessel became lively or moved a lot, which made it unstable for salvers to continue," she said.

Salvers are salvaging the ship's cargo containers. The containers were covered in oil and water when holds two and three were flooded.

The ship began to spill diesel oil last week Monday. The spillage was quickly contained with the use of the craft Kuswag 4.

'There is no spill threat'

The Agulhas was carrying 469 containers, containing frozen fish, construction material and automotive parts.

Salvers were steam-cleaning containers to wash off oil before storing them at the harbour.

Salvers attempted to re-float the vessel two weeks ago, but no more attempts have been made.

Spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Affairs, Carol Moses, said: "In terms of the report we received, there is no official decision on whether it will be taken out to sea and stripped."

She said the bulk of the oil on the vessel had been removed and there were only about 20 ton left on board.

"At this point there is no (spill) threat. We have officials on site and will act if any environmental threat does arise," said Moses.

The 16 800-ton ship ran aground when her engines failed at the East London harbour on June 26.

- SAPA