Freighter Spills Chemicals - Threatens Hippos/UNESCO World Heritage Site |
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| On September 10, the Italian
flagged Jolly Rubino beached off the northeast coast of South Africa. The
ship was pounded by high seas and abandon by its 22 member crew when a fire
started.
The ship eventually sustained a crack down most of its left side through which oil was seen gushing out. Many containers holding various chemical were also lost over the side of the ship. The vessel is about 12km south of an estuary leading to the main lake of the wetland park, a wildlife sanctuary and UNESCO World Heritage site. The Park is home to hippos, endangered leatherback turtles, and many other species.
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Dr Lynn Jackson from South Africa's
department of environmental affairs said they were raising sand barriers
and blocking waterways to stop oil spilling into the wetland park. Rescue
workers had laid out oil-absorbent booms at the weekend to prevent fuel from
contaminating the estuary. The wetlands estuary has been closed up by a sand
bar, and reinforced with man-made dunes thrown up by bulldozers to stop high
tides carrying oil into the mangrove swamps. "Estuaries are the most dynamic
of all ecosystems, and the introduction of oil would have a very adverse
effect," said Richard Penn-Sawers, conservation manager of the park.
Source: ITV.com (online) - September
13, 2002; Toby Reynolds of Reuters via ABC News (online), September 16, 2002;
Ernest Mabuza of Business Day Johannesburg via Allfrica.com (online). |
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