The South Africa Incident Management Organisation (Imorg) has launched an investigation into a spillage of an oily substance believed to have come from a container cargo vessel that was anchored in Algoa Bay on Saturday.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) said in a statement on Monday that the spill had been reported after a vessel at anchorage number 2 in Algoa Bay spotted oil-like blobs and an oily sheen on the water. The vessel reported the incident to the TNPA Vessel Traffic Service, which dispatched a rapid response craft to investigate the report.
“The preliminary investigation by the response craft, found an oily substance on the water at about 5pm on Saturday. The launch reported that the oily substance on the water was coming from the Motor Vessel MSC Apollo,” Samsa said.
However, due to the onset of darkness, further investigation was postponed.
“During the course of the Saturday evening, Samsa approached the vessel insurers to provide oil spill trajectory modelling from the International Tanker Owners’ Pollution Federation Limited (ITOPF). This would ensure that the next day’s spill response would be focused in the appropriate area,” the safety authority said.
Samsa said Imorg members, which include Transnet National Ports Authority, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, SA National Parks, and others, met with the vessel’s agent and its insurers on Sunday.
“During the meeting, arrangements were made to speedily launch the necessary efforts to both determine the cause of the oil spillage from the MSC Apollo, the extent of the reported oil spill, as well as how to contain its spread in the Algoa Bay region and to protect the wildlife on the nearby islands of St Croix and Bird Island,” the safety authority said.
“A surveillance flight by rotary wing aircraft was carried out on Sunday afternoon in strong winds. The flight plan was directed by the results of the ITOPF modelling and included the St Croix Island group.”
Samsa said no oil or oily sheen had been spotted during the flight and the foot patrol of beaches between the Port of Ngqura and Sundays River.
“At the second incident management meeting on Monday morning, it was agreed to attempt to clean the stains off the hull of the MSC Apollo while she was at anchor, to stop any oily sheen being transferred to the water,” the safety authority said.
Samsa said the hull could not be cleaned on Sunday due to rough seas, which are expected to have subsided by Tuesday when SanParks rangers will also travel to the St Croix Island group.
“In preparation for the landing of the SanParks rangers …the vessel insurers have agreed to provide a drone to scan the islands for any oiled birds. This will help inform the planning of any oiled wildlife response,” Samsa said.
Samsa urged the public to report any sightings of oiled birds to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds.
Imorg, co-chaired by the Department of Transport and Samsa, is a preparedness forum for government and industry joint response to oil spills within South Africa’s exclusive economic zone of approximately 1.5-million sq km across the Atlantic, Southern and Indian Oceans.
