Rehana Rossouw
MINERAL and Energy Affairs Minister Pik Botha this week blamed the Strategic Fuel Fund (SSF) for allowing a “rust bucket” tanker — which spilled 66.5 tons of crude oil into the sensitive Saldanha Bay area — to slip through safety controls.
The spill, some of which seeped into the Langebaan lagoon reserve, fulfilled the worst fears of environmentalists, who have criticised Botha’s plans to store 15- million barrels of Iranian oil at Saldanha.
The spill last weekend — earlier reported as only five tons — happened when the tanker Hawaiian King was taking on oil from the SSF storage bunkers at Saldanha
While Botha this week charged the SFF had failed in its responsibility to ensure no unsafe tankers enter the bay and launched an informal inquiry into the matter, the Department of Transport, which has to do the checking, said it was not that simple.
Botha’s representative, Roland Darroll, said this week South Africa had a responsibility to make absolutely sure tankers in its harbours were in “first class” condition and crewed by “first class” personnel.
“We were supposed to have regulations in place to ensure this, but the Hawaiian King appeared to have slipped through the net,” Darroll said.
“We would like to see the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) go back to the drawing board to ensure that the proper controls are in place before tankers are allowed to enter Saldanha Bay.”
An investigation found the spill was caused by a burst pipe on the Hawaiin King.
Darroll said because the world’s oil tanker fleet was aged, with most vessels built 20 years or more ago, the Ministry would investigate the possibility of South Africa choosing which tankers will be allowed to transport oil from Iran to South Africa, if the deal went ahead.
“Minister Pik Botha is determined to tighten up our checking procedures. He has called for an enquiry into the leak at Saldanha Bay and is drawing up a list of questions he wants the SFF to answer immediately,” Darroll said.
The Department of Transport’s assistant chief director for shipping, Naas Wasserman, said his department had no jurisdiction over vessels entering South Africa’s harbours, unless they suspected a danger to the environment.
He believed the Hawaiin King had undergone a port state inspection in Australia before it departed for South Africa, but it was unlikely this procedure would have disclosed the burst pipe which had been responsible for the oil leak in Saldanha.
“It is generally accepted that the world’s tanker fleet comprises of rust buckets, but the problem we face is that we don’t know when to decide that they are no longer seaworthy. Unfortunately, we will have to continue to allow these vessels into our waters,” Wasserman said.
The Western Cape Wildlife Society called again for an environmental assessment with an appropriate brief and full public participation to investigate the risk of the Iranian oil deal.
SFF executive director Kobus van Zyl was not available to comment.