South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs said on 25 August: “Plans to pump the oil out of the vessel are at an advanced stage. It is anticipated that the removal of oil from the vessel may take anything between five and seven days, while it may take several months to remove the coal.”
The department said that no oil spill had been detected from the vessel and containment booms had been placed around it and along the coastline.
The 151,279 dwt Smart ran aground on a sandbank on 19 August and suffered structural failure causing the vessel to split into two. The vessel was carrying a cargo of 147,650 tonnes of coal.
It was the second bulker to run aground off South Africa this month. German-owned bulk carrier Kiani Satu, which ran aground off Buffels Bay, sank on 21 August after being towed 110nm out to sea.
