According to the African News Agency, the oil spill occurring from MV Chrysanthi S was due to a not properly closed tank valve. Although the African authorities managed to contain the oil spill, the damage had already been done.
The African safety Authority stated that they were conducting a research from the early days of July to understand where the 400 litres of oil came from. Yet, SAMSA informed that about 360 litres of oil were extracted from the ocean off Port Elizabeth.
According to Bongi Stofile, SAMSA’s Regional Manager
It appears that the oil spill occurred after one of the fuel tank valves was not properly closed, leading to a vast amount of fuel accidentally spilling out onto the vessel and into the sea. At the time, the vessel had been supplied with as much as 1,300 metric tons of fuel.
In addition, the vessel’s bunkering services company, SA Marine Fuels, revealed that the vessel’s owner was liable for the tragedy.
Mr Stofile added that the owners of the vessel, Golden Flower Navigation Incorporated, accepted the accusations for the oil spill and proceeded to the steps needed to comply the South African laws and regulations as well international conventions related to incidents of this nature.
In the beginning the vessel was detained, but later on was released and continued its journey.
SAMSA stated that although they managed to contain the oil spill, the impact was obvious on marine wildlife, particularly sea birds and penguins. As a result, 90 African penguins, nine penguin chicks, three penguin eggs, 12 Cape gannets and five Cape cormorants had been rescued and were being cleaned.