BBC China: Oil transfer starts

2004-10-24 19:48

Johannesburg - About three tons of oil had already been transferred from the grounded cargo ship, BBC China since Saturday, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism reported on Sunday.

The BBC China, carrying about 120 tons of fuel oil, ran aground at Port Grosvenor on the Wild Coast last week.

"The oil transfer operation commenced late yesterday (Saturday) as weather conditions improved," said department spokeswoman Carol Moses.

Response measures in place

She said the department's standard precautionary response measures remained in place.

The estuary at the Msikaba River near the stricken vessel remain closed and the Kuswag I, an anti-pollution patrol vessel, remained on standby at the scene and was monitoring the situation closely.

"The department's anti-pollution patrol aircraft, Kuswag VIII, is regularly surveying the surrounding marine environment from the air and no visibility of oil or sheen has been reported today (Sunday)."

Moses said the department had been receiving daily reports from the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) and the salvage company, Smit Marine and would issue regular updates on the status of the clean-up.

'Not breaking up

She also said according to Smit Marine, the ship was not showing signs of breaking up, as reported earlier in the media.

"The salvage company has said that the ship's condition is still the same as it was in the past couple of days.

The ship ran aground while en route to Durban for refuelling.

It carries a load of steel, but there are small parcels of compressed air, paint and batteries on board that are considered hazardous.

The 16 crew members, along with the captain, were airlifted to safety and are in Durban.

- SAPA