BBC China: Cargo removal begins

2004-10-25 15:09

Johannesburg - Operations have begun to remove cargo from the BBC China, which is grounded at Port Grosvenor on the Wild Coast, the Environmental Affairs and Tourism Department said on Monday.

Spokeswoman Carol Moses said at least three tons of cargo and a total of 25 tonnes of oil had been transferred from the ship.

"The cargo does not pose any threat to communities or the marine and coastal environment," Moses said.

She said the vessel carried about 120 tons of fuel oil and 2 800 tons of cargo, of which 9.5 tons were batteries, paint and bottles of carbon dioxide.

"The progress of both operations is subject to weather conditions," she said.

The oil clean-up operation would be completed by Wednesday.

Moses said an anti-pollution patrol vessel and aircraft were on stand-by monitoring the scene closely. An estuary at the Msikaba River near the scene remained closed.

She said that according to salvors Smit Marine, the ship was not showing signs of breaking up, as was 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 and the 16 crew members, along with the captain, were airlifted to safety in Durban earlier this month.

- SAPA