Weather dashes oil recovery

2004-10-19 11:56

Cape Town - Strong winds and choppy seas were on Tuesday still hampering efforts to pump about 120 tons of oil from the sunken BBC China cargo ship, the maritime safety authority said.

The general cargo ship was carrying 2 800 tons of sub-assembled steel equipment from Port of Spain, Trinidad, to Durban when it ran aground about 150 metres off Port Grosvenor on the KwaZulu Natal Wild Coast late on Saturday.

A rescue helicopter was called in early on Sunday and 16 members of the mostly Ukrainian crew were airlifted to safety.

Captain Bill Dernier of the South African Maritime Safety Authority said that strong winds were slowing the oil transfer process.

"We have helicopters transporting gear onto the wreck and the necessary equipment is in place ... We could start pumping the oil off by tonight or early tomorrow," Dernier said. "It all depends on the weather."

There is no threat to the environment although "some oil" had leaked out, said Dernier, the operations manager for the government agency responsible for pollution prevention and wreck removal said.

The 122-metre vessel was carrying 58 tons of heavy fuel, 60 tons of marine gas oil and 8 tons of lube oil.

- AP