The bulk carrier, Kiani Satu, which ran aground off the coast of Knysna, on 8 August 2013, sank early this morning to a depth of about 1000m and 100 nautical miles away from the Knysna coast.
While reports from the Department of Environmental Affairs’ aerial pollution surveillance aircraft, the Kuswag 9 (K9), show that there is no pollution around the vessel, the department will continue with the aerial surveillance of the wreck for secondary pollution.
The clean-up operation on the beach and in the estuaries is stable and manageable. The clean up of the estuary will be completed today and most of the oil on the beach has been removed. The pollution team on the ground will start removing the booms around the two estuaries, the Goukamma River Estuary and later today and handover to the Cape Nature.
The DEA Oil Pollution team will today move on to Port Elizabeth where some oil washed off on the beaches on Saturday. While it has not been confirmed yet, it is assumed that the oil is from the sunken Kiani Satu. The patches of conglomerated oil and tar balls covered an area of about half a kilometre from Kini Beach to Bush Park. The clean-up operation involving, among others, DEA, the Nelson Mandela Metro Disaster Management and SANParks, commenced today.
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