Progress is being made in the removal of pollutants from the fishing vessel ‘Elke M’ that ran aground at St Francis Bay on Saturday night.
A helicopter assisted in the transfer of equipment to the casualty yesterday and pumping of onboard fuel into 4 bulk IBC containers (1000 litre capacity) was completed. Today, the bulk containers containing fuel will be landed ashore in the demarcated landing site whilst operations continue onboard.
The process of removing the pollutants is a priority with the initial focus being the 35 tonnes of diesel on board. A workboat arrived onsite this morning to provide assistance to the salvage operation and conduct oil pollution watch following the release of the ‘Umkhuseli’ earlier today.
SAMSA will continue monitoring the operation; working in collaboration with the Incident Management Structure (IMS). This includes Owners, the insurers (P&I Club), municipality officials, the NSRI, salvors AMSOL, environmental management organisations and other relevant parties. Environmental protection and safety of personnel remains the key priority for all stakeholders.
The vessel had 24 crew on board when she ran aground 1 mile from Port St Francis at 22h30 on Saturday night. All were brought to safety after they abandoned ship.
Operations to remove pollutants from the fishing vessel that ran aground in Cape St Francis commence https://t.co/XDRs2jLyli#ArriveAlive #Pollutants #FishingVessel #Operations @SAMSAMARITIME pic.twitter.com/XAto32gVWY
– Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) January 10, 2024