South Africa hopes to pump oil spill wreck dry
Date: 19-Sep-02
Country: SOUTH AFRICA
Author: Toby Reynolds
The Italian-flagged Jolly Rubino lay beached some seven miles (11 km) south of the entrance to the UNESCO-recognised St Lucia Wetlands Park, cracked on both sides and leaking oil.
The vast coastal area of lagoon, swamp, dune and beach is home to an array of rare plants, animals and birds and is a magnet to ecologists, divers and tourists worldwide.
Conservationists say the park's fragile ecosystem would be ruined if oil found its way into the wetlands.
Environmentalists said they hoped the wind and ocean currents would keep the pollutant out of the park.
A five mile-long slick had formed in the sea near the vessel, but wind and tide were carrying it south, and not threatening the estuary leading to the park, officials said.
Some oil had washed up on other beaches near the ship.
Conservationists were taking no chances, and had thrown up sand barricades about one mile long to protect the estuary, as well as preparing a floating boom to close the mouth of the Umfolozi river, which connects to the wetlands.
"At the moment we will win, and if it doesn't go that way we will do what we can to minimise the damage," said deputy environment minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi.
Captain Nicholas Sloane of Smit Salvage said his team had shifted their focus to drawing off some 800 tonnes of fuel remaining on board the vessel because an on-board fire, blazing for an eighth day yesterday, had severely weakened the hull.
He said predictions for the slicks' movement were favourable for preserving the wetlands. "At the moment (the spilt oil) is going to the south for the next four days," he said.
The St Lucia park is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including hippos, crocodiles and endangered Leatherback turtles.
TOXIC CHEMICAL DRUMS
Mabudafhasi said drums of toxic chemicals carried by the ship were of secondary concern. Salvage workers said most of the chemicals, including solvents, and toxic substances phenol and alpha-naphthylamine, would have burnt up in the fire.
Pollution experts added that if drums of chemicals had leaked into the sea, their toxicity would have been diluted.
Inquisitive locals opening drums washed up on the beach were most threatened by the chemicals, and the shoreline around the wreck would be closed to the public by the army, officials said.
Smit said its salvage team had boarded the vessel and would locate the main fuel line to the engine. They would first try and attach that pipe to their pump, and decant fuel from the ship's right side fuel tank into a nearby tug. The left-hand tank had already ruptured and leaked out most of its oil.
If the heat of the fire, still raging in the cargo area, hampered that task, the team would cut a hole in the fuel tank and pump out oil directly, Smit added.
Around 450 tonnes of oil were thought to have leaked out of a crack about 20 metres (65 ft) long in the ship's left side.
TOURIST ATTRACTION
The Jolly Rubino's 22 crew were airlifted to safety this week after the engine-room fire spread out of control.
The ship had been sailing from South Africa's main port, Durban, to Mombasa in Kenya, when the fire broke out. Senior maritime officials said the vessel's design had contributed to the speed with which the fire spread through its cargo.
The Jolly Rubino is a roll-on/roll-off vessel, and as such has an open cargo space. "The fire would have gone right through there. It is a failing of this type of vessel," one senior marine engineer said. "There will certainly be an enquiry."
Officials conceded there was little they could do about the spill, and said they were content to wait. "It is better to try and clean it up when it is on the sand," said Dr Lynn Jackson, a pollution expert from the department of the environment.
While authorities waited, hoping the slick would come ashore far from the wetlands, some observers said the wreck would become a part of the coastline.
"She will never move from there, not in one
