Latest News

Salvage team to start pumping fuel from grounded vessel on South African coast

A salvage group hopes to make the most of a break in the stormy weather condition that has lashed Cape Town's coast to begin pumping 500 tons of fuel off a. ship that ran aground last week on South Africa's west coast,. authorities said on Wednesday.

The Panama-flagged Ultra Galaxy went to pieces near Doring. Bay, some 300 km north of Cape Town, last Tuesday after it. started noting severely and handling water.

The ship was safely deserted by its 18-strong Filipino crew. on July 8 before it wandered towards land. The sailors were. rescued by passing vessels who responded to an emergency situation alert.

This weather turns at the weekend, and we are wishing to. beat the weather window, Sobantu Tilayi, chief operations. officer at the South African Maritime Safety Authority, told. .

He said the salvage business, U.S.-based Willpower Marine, were. settling the construction of a platform on the stricken vessel. to heat and pump its load of ultra-low sulphur fuel.

The salvors have actually installed a salvage plan to remove the. fuel ... We are hoping that either tomorrow or the next day they. are going to begin the pumping operation, Tilayi stated.

He stated the basic cargo ship, run by Ultrabulk and on. its way to Tanzania before the emergency, was thankfully quickly. aground on a sandy beach and not rocky outcrops, which would. have actually accelerated its break-up.

The ship itself remains structurally intact which assists us. because what leads to an oil spill is when the ship breaks. apart, the tanks get impacted and everything starts leaking into. the sea, Tilayi stated.

(source: Reuters)