Progress is being made in the removal of pollutants from the fishing vessel ‘Elke M’ that ran aground at St Francis Bay on January 6.
The vessel had 24 crew on board when it ran aground 1 mile from Port St Francis at 22:30 on January 6. All were brought to safety after they abandoned the ship.
South African Maritime Safety Authority spokesperson, Tebogo Ramatjie said that a helicopter assisted in the transfer of equipment to the casualty on January 10, and the pumping of onboard fuel into 4 bulk IBC containers (1000 litre capacity) was completed.
He further said that on January 11, the bulk containers containing fuel landed ashore in the demarcated landing site whilst operations continued onboard.
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“The process of removing the pollutants is a priority with the initial focus being the 35 tonnes of diesel on board,” said Ramatjie.
He said that on January 11, a workboat arrived onsite to provide assistance to the salvage operation and conduct an oil pollution watch following the release of the ‘Umkhuseli’ on the same day.
Ramatjie said that SAMSA will continue monitoring the operation, working in collaboration with the Incident Management Structure (IMS) which includes Owners, the insurers (P&I Club), municipality officials, the NSRI, salvors AMSOL, environmental management organisations, and other relevant parties.
“The environmental protection and safety of personnel remains the key priority for all stakeholders,” said Ramatjie.
