News24 | Massive West Coast oil spill mop-up under way after MV Ultra Galaxy breaks up into four pieces

Oil spill cleanup efforts are under way on the West Coast in the Western Cape. (Mothushi Thoka/News24)

• Oil spill clean-up efforts are under way on the West Coast after the Panama-registered cargo vessel MV Ultra Galaxy broke up into four pieces this week.
• The operation has hired 216 people from the Matzikama Local Municipality.
• About 8 tonnes of oil have already been recovered, and further efforts are being made to extract the remaining fuel from the vessel.

Intensive clean-up efforts are under way on the West Coast in the Western Cape after the break-up of the Panama-registered general cargo vessel MV Ultra Galaxy caused an oil spill. The vessel broke into four sections due to massive waves associated with a cold front that enveloped the western and northern Cape regions last weekend.

One fuel tank exploded, spilling oil onto the beach. South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) CEO Tau Morwe said teams were working on the beach to clean-up the oil. 

“About 8 tonnes of oil have been recovered. A public service vehicle is waiting for the right time to heat up and extract the remaining fuel from the vessel,” he said. 

Morwe said the estimated remaining fuel in the vessel was about 160 tonnes, but an assessment would be made to determine the exact amount. 

He said the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, as well as the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds, were on standby to protect marine life and seabirds. However, none had been affected so far. 

READ | Seabird rescue team readies itself after grounded vessel causes West Coast oil spill

“There has been significant environmental damage, and because of the storm, most of the fuel was blown onto the beach,” Morwe added. Samsa chief operating officer Sobantu Tilayi said the agency could not conclude what happened to the ship because, according to international law, the country where the ship is registered must conduct the investigation.

“As the affected party, we only provide initial assistance,” he said.

MV Ultra Galaxy was registered in Panama and had a crew of 18 Filipino nationals when it ran aground in July because of extreme weather conditions. 

Tilayi said Samsa, in cooperation with Panama, would bring in a surveyor and technical experts on Sunday to conduct investigations. The experts are expected to arrive at Samsa’s office in Saldanha Bay, where the ship’s crew was offloaded and initially interviewed. Tilayi said when the distress call was received, the ship was heavily listing (tilting due to taking on water) and the priority was to save lives.

“Our Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre picked up the distress call and coordinated the rescue. 

“The crew abandoned the ship, and a nearby fishing vessel and other cargo vessels rescued the survivors,” he said.

READ | Against the clock: Specialist system to be used to assess West Coast shipwreck amid oil spill fears

All crew members were accounted for. Tilayi told News24 that the ship was eastbound to Tanzania, and there was no evidence it broke any laws. 

“Any ship’s master would take necessary measures to avoid bad weather, but that will be part of the investigation,” he added.

Richard Roberson, the salvage master at SMIT International, said materials recovered from the shoreline included empty cargo bags, vessel debris, oil residue and contaminated sand. 

“All that material is packaged, collected and placed in on-site skips,” he said. He added that a specific waste management procedure for handling the materials had been developed.

Roberson said they were continually conducting shoreline and offshore surveys to monitor the situation beyond immediate clean-up operations.

“During the early stages of the project, we faced adverse weather conditions and challenges such as flooded roads, but we successfully navigated and established our operations,” he said. 

He described the operation as “most challenging” due to the windy and stormy weather.

Siboniso Ngema, a manager at emergency spill response company Spill Tech, said local labour had been sourced within the Matzikama Local Municipality. 

“We started with a team of 50 and, at peak, we have 231 locals,” he said.