Urgent Efforts to Prevent Oil Spill After Cargo Ship Runs Aground in South Africa

Salvage operations are in full swing to prevent an oil spill from the grounded cargo vessel 'Ultra Galaxy' along South Africa's west coast. The ship, abandoned by its Filipino crew, has raised environmental concerns. Rough sea conditions are challenging but haven't hampered the salvage efforts yet.

Salvage operations were ramped up on Thursday to avert a potential oil spill and subsequent pollution from the grounded cargo vessel 'Ultra Galaxy' along South Africa's west coast, authorities confirmed. The Panama-flagged ship ran aground near Doring Bay, approximately 300 km north of Cape Town, after listing severely on Tuesday.

‘Salvage operations are continuing at high speed to minimise the risk of pollution and to assess the condition of the cargo on the stricken vessel,’ stated Tebogo Ramatjie, spokesperson for the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA). The vessel's 18-member Filipino crew was safely rescued from a life raft by passing ships following a distress call at around 0300 am local time (0100 GMT) on Monday.

Efforts are now concentrated on preventing fuel and oil spills, as well as salvaging the ship’s cargo of fertilizer bags headed for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Despite rough seas from recent cold fronts, salvage operations continue unhindered. Concurrently, logistics firm Transnet suspended some port operations due to strong winds and waves battering South Africa's coast. In a related incident, French shipping company CMA CGM reported the loss of 44 containers from its ship 'Benjamin Franklin' in the same treacherous conditions.