The bulk carrier stranded on the coast near East London and her heavy cargo are causing concern as bad weather hampers the removal of potentially hazardous logs.
The hull of the Kiperousa is already showing cracks and breaking up while salvors go about the ”slow, risky business” of removing the logs from the hull, said South African Maritime Safety Authority spokesperson Captain Peter Kroon.
Attempts to refloat the 14 921-tonne log carrier were abandoned last month.
National Ports Authority spokesperson Terry Taylor said there was no choice in the matter as repeated efforts to pull the stranded vessel off the Bhenga reef south of Hamburg, using some of the most powerful tugs available, had been unsuccessful.
The ship was on its way from Gabon to Durban to take on fuel oil before making its way to the Far East, when it ran aground on June 7.
Kroon said the salvors have to be very careful as they go about removing the almost 6 000 logs weighing between as the bad weather often sees waves washing right across the deck.
He said they do not want the logs to fall into the water, as they could be potentially hazardous to passing ships, but that it is not an immediate concern.
Taylor said there is no immediate danger of the ship’s condition deteriorating so rapidly and to such an extent overnight that the logs would enter the sea.
He said the Kiperousa has taken some strain on the rocks, but has a solid structure and the salvors are comfortable that they will be able to remove the logs.
There is currently one barge ferrying up to 70 logs at a time into East London. Another barge from Dubai, capable of carrying up to 400 logs at a time, is being brought in to speed up the operation.
”There is no crisis at the moment, but we have to get the logs off. The challenge is to get them off as soon as possible,” said Taylor, who estimated that the operation will take about two months.
He said that while a big storm might see the ship break up faster than expected, the salvors are confident they will ”beat the sea”.
About 2 000 logs have been brought into East London and it is up to the owners and insurance companies to decide whether to sell the logs locally or bring in another ship to take the logs to the Far East.
Meanwhile, East Londoners have gained a new landmark as the vessel, visible from the shore, is left as a wreck for ”Mother Nature to demolish over the years”.
Once the cargo has been removed, the ship will be cut down, according to maritime laws, to a certain level below the water mark and then left to the sea, Taylor said. — Sapa