A salvage team is removing all movable items, panelling and fittings from the wrecked ship BBC China, the ship’s joint response committee said on Friday.
The team finished recovering all major pollutants from the wreck on Wednesday, and is now focused on stripping the accommodation section of the ship.
The committee said in a statement it is expecting unfavourable weather this weekend, which will hinder the first phase of partially removing the wreck from the ocean.
The oil skimmed from the engine room was pumped into a seaslug, a floating device that stores oil.
While the oil-pollution abatement vessel Kuswag I was towing the seaslug to Durban on Wednesday, the crew noticed the seaslug appeared to be leaking oil.
A salvage team dispatched from Durban was sent to meet the Kuswag I and was able to fix the leak.
Another boat towed the seaslug to Durban, while the Kuswag I dealt with the oil spill.
It was helped by a strong north-easterly wind that broke up the spilt oil. A pollution-monitoring aircraft flew over the area on Friday and found no oil pollution.
A decision on the fate of the wrecked ship will be made at the end of November after an environmental-impact assessment by marine biologists and independent experts.
The vessel’s owners have declared her a ”constructive total loss”. It will not be possible to refloat her.
The ship ran aground on October 16 during rough weather. — Sapa