Oil has leaked from the wreckage of a bulk carrier which ran agroung off Blouberstrand in 2009.
|||Cape Town - Oil leaked from the wreckage of a bulk carrier off Blouberstrand on Wednesday afternoon, the City of Cape Town said.
The navy had conducted controlled blasts to weaken the structure since Monday, said disaster risk management centre spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.
“When it blasted one of the tanks underwater it ruptured, and it then released oil that was onboard the wreck.”
He said this resulted in an oil slick emanating from the tanks.
“There is no immediate threat to the shoreline and the marine life at this stage.”
Solomons-Johannes said the city's disaster rescue teams would conduct investigations on Robben Island, Dassen Island, and at the Koeberg nuclear power station to see if there was any threat.
“Sanccob (the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) was on high alert to assist with any birds which had been oiled or polluted.”
He said all necessary procedures were in place, and people were not allowed within 1000 metres of the operation area.
The oiled leaked from the wreckage of the Turkish bulk carrier MV Seli 1, which ran aground off Bloubergstrand in September 2009. - Sapa