The stricken bulk carrier Kiperousa is starting to break up and has moved about 150m closer to shore near East London, the Dispatch Online reported on Tuesday.
It said bad weather at the weekend caused some damage to the ship and 25 logs were washed off the barge Jumbo while being conveyed to East London.
Dutch salvage company SvitzerWijsmuller’s senior salvage master, Captain Nick Sloane, said the Maltese-registered, 15 000-tonne Kiperousa‘s bow has broken through holding ropes, moving closer to shore.
The salvage of logs from the holds was suspended at the weekend and on Monday because of severe weather conditions.
Sloane said the stray logs do not pose a hazard to shipping traffic.
”There are 23 logs on the beach near the race track and two on the West Bank approach to the harbour,” he said.
”We spent five hours flying in a helicopter on Sunday to check the coastline and all the logs have ended up along the shore. There are none at sea which could be a hazard to shipping.”
The Kiperousa was grounded on June 7 and all attempts to get it off the reef between Hamburg and Bhira have proved fruitless.
The salvors were to meet authorities on Tuesday to discuss what would happen to the ship if it broke up any further.
The future of the cargo, valued at about R200-million, is also under discussion.
Sloane said he expects the owners of the cargo will wait until all 9 000 logs have been removed before making a decision. — Sapa