Nearly a year after the FV Elke M fishing trawler ran aground in St Francis Bay, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) has confirmed that work has resumed on removing the last batch of loosened parts of the wreck.
According to SAMSA, the removal of the loose steel parts from the vessel, which ran aground in January this year, began in November.
The statement explained that the removal process had been halted since May due to hostile winter weather characterised by strong winds and huge waves along the Cape of Good Hope Ocean corridor.
After the completion of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) under Section 30 of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) by expert environmentalist and scientist, Dr Warwick Sauer, from the Faculty of Ichthyology and Fisheries Sciences at Rhodes University, removal work resumed in November.
“The EIA findings by Dr Warwick, as reported by SAMSA, indicated that the reduced steel structural portion of the vessel, which was left on the coastline at Shark Point, near St Francis Bay, had settled firmly on the rocky shoreline much faster than anticipated. The steel was divided into three parts,” the statement said.
The statement further noted that the grounding incident of the FV Elke M, a Gqeberha-registered 376-ton (gross) fishing trawler, measuring 33 metres in length and eight metres wide, with a deadweight tonnage of some 194 tons, occurred on January 6, 2024, on a rocky coastal area of the Eastern Cape, about two kilometres south-east of St Francis Bay.
“Within hours of the incident, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) assisted in the secure evacuation of all 22 crew members aboard the vessel,” the statement said. “Salvage work was initiated shortly thereafter to reduce and remove the vessel’s 35 tons of marine fuel and approximately 2 000 litres of lubricating oil.
“Subsequently, in May 2024, after additional evaluations of its disfigured and torn structure, which was divided into three sections, it was determined to be temporarily safe during the stormy winter months that began that month.”
The statement mentioned that another EIA was conducted in June this year, followed by the most recent one, on which the basis of the first phase of the wreck removal has now started.
In the intervening period, according to the vessel owner’s insurance company, the P&I representative, Nick Sloane, a service provider procured by the vessel owner’s insurers remained posted to monitor the condition of the vessel to ensure the safety of life and the nearby environment.
The monitoring company also collected debris found in the area, most of which, Sloane said, did not emerge from the bare and broken structure of the FV Elke M.
The statement said that vigilance would continue through to February 2025, by which period most of what remains of the wreck will possibly have been completely removed.
On November 21, in the presence of SAMSA Southern Region Principal Officer, Thandimfundo Mehlo, the wreck removal team utilised a helicopter to lift and dispose of loose steel parts of the wreck that were torn off its skeletal structure by sea waves during the winter months.
