'Beware floating ship debris': SA Maritime Safety Authority alert

Large steel hatch covers dislodged from the grounded cargo ship on the Cape west coast pose a navigational hazard, the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) warned on Tuesday.

The covers were dislodged and detached from the 125m MV Ultra Galaxy which ran aground on July 9 at Duiwegat, south of Brand se Baai. Some of them have been retrieved while the rest are believed to be adrift, moving in a southerly direction.

Without the hatches in place the ship’s fertiliser cargo had largely been swept away by the sea, Samsa said, though much of it has most likely been dissolved in the ocean.     

“Efforts are focused on removing the fertiliser bags washing up on the shoreline,” Samsa said in a salvage update.

“It is expected that most of the fertiliser in the cargo bags would have dissolved and the department of forestry, fisheries and environment is implementing an environmental monitoring programme.

“The search for flotsam and other debris from the ship will be expanding over the next few days as the salvage crew tries to use the good weather between cold fronts.

“With the drift pattern expected to be in a southerly direction, members of the public on the West coast south of Brand se Baai to St Helena Bay are requested to look out for any debris that may wash up on the beach, such as cargo bags, steel hatch covers and other flotsam, and report them to Samsa through the Maritime Rescue Co-ordinating Centre at 021-938-3300 or 012-938-3303,” said Samsa.

The 18-member Filipino crew, rescued from a life raft after a 17-hour ordeal in the ocean are now back home in the Philippines.

The crew were forced to abandon ship after the vessel developed a dangerous list in stormy conditions.

Earlier this year Samsa said it was upscaling its emergency response capacity in light of an increase in marine traffic around the Cape due to the security situation in the Red Sea.

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