A FUEL leak at the wreck of a crayfish trawler close to the Port Elizabeth coast prompted quick action from clean-up crews, who will soon remove what could be close to 40 tons of biodiesel from the sunken vessel.
At the same time, a leading environmentalist is asking why the problem was allowed to escalate when a leak could have been avoided altogether.
On November 26 last year, the Baratz started taking on water, leading to the dramatic rescue of 25 fishermen shortly before the ship sunk about 2km from the coast near Cape Recife.
At that stage, the vessel was not leaking any fuel and Xtreme Projects – a company specialising in ship salvage operations and cleaning of hazardous material – was tasked to remove ropes, buoys and other debris that came off the Baratz as it went down.
“We removed debris that posed a navigational danger to other vessels. Afterwards we monitored the area for any oil or fuel leaks, but at that stage there was no threat,” Xtreme Projects owner Kevin Kelly said.
However, Xtreme Projects returned to the wreck site on Wednesday afternoon after a fuel leak was reported.
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