Pretoria: 04 October 2024
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) says it has embarked on yet another search for a set of containers lost overboard by an international cargo vessel while sailing along the country’s oceans earlier this week.
However, the set of containers lost overboard by a Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) vessel, the MV MSC Taranto, while sailing past South Africa, are empty. In the wake of the incident, SAMSA has issued a navigational warning to vessels traversing the oceans nearby to be on the look-out, and to report any sightings.
In a statement in Pretoria on Friday, SAMSA said: “The South African Maritime Safety Authority has been alerted to the loss of five empty containers from the MV MSC Taranto, which occurred between 01:00 and 04:00 local time on the 2nd of October 2024.
“The vessel, which is currently en-route to Colombo, Sri Lanka, reported that the containers – two (2) yellow and three (3) red -were lost at sea. The exact location of the containers is reported to be have been along the west coast between Mossel Bay and stillbaai.
“SAMSA, in collaboration with other relevant authorities, is actively working on locating and recovering the containers. A navigational warning has been issued to all vessels traversing the west coast of South Africa to be on alert for the floating containers, which pose a potential hazard to maritime navigation.
“Mariners and the public are urged to immediately report any sightings of the containers to local authorities or the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) on 021 938 3300.
Further updates will be provided as recovery efforts continue.
MV MSC Apollo released
Meanwhile, SAMSA also confirmed the official release of another MSC vessel, the MV MSC Apollo that had been berthed in Algoa Bay for more than a week following an oil spill incident which since been contained.
Said SAMSA: “The MV MSC Apollo has been allowed to depart from Algoa Bay anchorage after she was detained following an oil spill in the bay on the 7th of September. A root cause investigation was completed by the vessel’s owners in conjunction with the Classification Society and endorsed by the vessel’s Flag State.
“This investigation resulted in one of the overboard discharges being blanked off and the sea chest strainer cleaned by a local dive company, in difficult conditions at the anchorage. No other damages have been found on the ship’s side structure during the diving inspection.
“The vessel will proceed to her next port of call, where a more thorough internal inspection of the sea chests can be conducted, while in port, by her owners,” said SAMSA.
Regarding the impacts of the oil spill in Algoa Bay, SAMSA said: “The oil spill affected the penguin population on St Croix Island and 13 oiled penguins were captured on the island by SANPARKS rangers and transported to the local SANCOBB rehabilitation facility.
“Very early in the incident one (1) penguin had died due to being in poor condition. The staff at SANCOBB have washed nine (9) penguins to date [with] two (2) more needing additional care before being washed.
“A lightly oiled penguin did not need washing but is being kept with the other penguins and these birds are expected to be released within the next two (2) weeks provided that they pass all their health checks,” said SAMSA.
“The SANPARKS rangers are scheduled to conduct a final inspection of St Croix Island on Saturday to check for any oiled penguins that may have been missed during their visits to the island group” said SAMSA.
Meanwhile, SAMSA also confirmed that the vessel owners had co-operated with the Authorities by paying the fines that were issued and provided a letter of undertaking to cover all reasonable cost of the clean up and penguin rehabilitation.
“These costs are being monitored by ITOPF (International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited) to ensure fairness,” said SAMSA.
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