South African coaster runs aground

TERRY HUTSON THE SOUTH African coaster Pongola ran aground on one of Beira’s notorious sandbanks on the approaches to the Mozambique port last week (July 6) and by the weekend was resisting all efforts to refloat the ship on the high tide. Initial reaction was that there didn’t appear to be any signs of bad damage to the ship, which also didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger, although possible damage to the hull and steering could only be properly evaluated once refloated. The 7 970gt coaster is one of eight ships operating a coastal service between the ports of Angola and Kenya for Ocean Africa Container Lines, the new name for Unifeeder. The vessel was on a voyage from Durban with a cargo of containers when the grounding took place. The salvage and supply tug Toto has left Durban to render assistance.