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Why was Treasure allowed into Table Bay? - Freight & Trading Weekly - 30 June 2000 edition -
- Freight & Trading Weekly
30 June 2000 edition
Why was Treasure allowed into Table Bay?
Probing questions asked as port is partially closed,writes Ray Smuts
AN ECONOMIC and ecological nightmare became reality this week as the first acrid-smelling bunker oil from the sunken ore carrier Treasure reached the shores of the Cape Peninsula, forcing authorities to take emergency measures to protect the Port of Cape Town from pollution.
The huge vessel, carrying 140 000 tons of iron ore from Brazil to China, had a hole the height of a five storey building in her hull when she sank off Melkbosstrand, about four nautical miles from Koeberg power station, in the early hours of Friday (June 16) while desperate attempts were being made to tow her further out to sea.
Ironically, Treasure belongs to the same Chinese company that owned the Apollo Sea which sank off Dassen Island in 1994 with the loss of all hands, landing the South African taxpayer with a pollution clean-up bill of R16 million. Treasure was carrying double Apollo Sea's oil load.
Now, as calls mounts for an immediate enquiry into the disaster, many probing questions are being asked, among them:
Shipping experts say the 17-year-old Treasure may well have been past its working life, given the extreme stresses to which ore carriers are subjected.
Responded Errol Moorcroft, Democratic Party environmental spokesman:"There surely must come a time when unseaworthy ships are withdrawn from service, if not voluntarily by the owners, as a result of coercion by the international shipping and insurance industries."
Cape Town's port captain John Woodend told FTW at the time of going to press that although the port was not closed completely it was being "managed" due to oil containment booms in place across the entrances to Duncan Dock, the Victoria and Alfred basin and the container terminal.
Shipping movements - about ten on Sunday alone - were "clustered" in that the booms were moved to allow vessels to enter and depart on an individual basis. No severe delays were experienced.
"Quite a bit of oil has sneaked into the harbour but what I am more concerned about now is the oil coming off the wreck," said Woodend.
Divers have managed to seal some of the leaks but there are nevertheless concerns that the oil could spill out should the vessel break up.
In that event the owners of the vessel will have to take responsibility for clean-up costs.
Options are being considered with a view to preventing and minimising further environmental damage through pollution.
It is thought highly unlikely that the owners will be able to refloat Treasure but consideration is being given to what to do with the cargo of iron ore which, thankfully, is not a hazardous product or marine pollutant.
As she lies in only 50 meters of water all that remains visible of a once-proud ship - rather reminiscent of a tombstone - are her communications antennae.
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