Phoenix ran aground on Sheffield Beach near Durban
At 9.50AM yesterday the ill-fated vessel Phoenix, which ran aground near Durban, took its final bow about 78km off Amanzimtoti on KZN’s south coast.
The 40-year-old ship has been in the news since it was stranded on the rocks off Sheffield Beach, just north of Durban, in early July. It was en route to India from Nigeria when it encountered problems and grounded near Durban.
The South African taxpayers have paid more than R35m in maintaining the ship after local maritime authorities could not reach its owners.
Dirty oil and harmful chemicals had to be transported off the ship to prevent spillage into the sea and destroying fish and other marine life.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) brought in international and local experts and hired helicopters to ensure the Phoenix was ready for refloating and, finally, to assist in the sinking operation.
Two previous attempts had failed, at a cost of millions of rands.
But yesterday Samsa officials were relieved when the Phoenix was eventually sunk and rested on the ocean bed, 783m below sea level.
“We are relieved,” said an excited Capt Saroor Ali.
“This has been a mammoth task.”
He said four remaining salvage crew members were lifted from the Phoenix just five minutes before it was sunk.
He said the tug Smith Amandla would remain nearby to monitor the sunken ship until late evening to ensure debris from the vessel does not come to surface and endanger passing ships or marine life.
“We will mark the exact spot where the ship was sunk to alert passing ships. But we are confident the ship is too far down on the seabed to pose any danger to the surface navigation or environment,” he said.
Capt Ali said now that the mission of sinking the ship had been accomplished, Samsa would try again to locate the owners of Phoenix to recover some of the costs incurred during the operations.
The Phoenix was registered in the Equatorial Guinea port of Malabo in west Africa but is believed to be owned by a group of Nigerians.
Source: The New Age
