Urgent Fuel Removal Operations Set for Grounded MV Ultra Galaxy Off Cape Coast

In an urgent response to the grounding of the Panama-flagged MV Ultra Galaxy, salvage teams are racing against time to extract a large quantity of fuel from the vessel that ran aground last week on South Africa’s west coast. The ship, which encountered severe difficulties, is situated approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Cape Town near Doringbaai.

Following the successful rescue of the vessel's 18 Filipino crew members on July 8, attention has sharply turned to prevent environmental contamination. The crew had abandoned the vessel amid its perilous listing and ingress of water, with their safety ensured by other vessels responding to their distress signal.

South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) COO Sobantu Tilayi expressed optimism on Wednesday that the brief calming of recent stormy conditions would provide the opportunity needed for fuel extraction. He highlighted the urgency, given that weather forecasts predict a return of adverse conditions over the weekend.

US-based Resolve Marine, a company with significant experience in marine salvaging, has been tasked with this critical operation. Technicians have been working strenuously to construct a specialized platform aboard the MV Ultra Galaxy. This setup is designed to heat and transfer the 500 tonnes of ultra-low sulphur fuel—a safer alternative to higher-sulphur maritime fuels but nonetheless harmful to the marine environment if leaked.

The salvage team has devised a plan to remove the fuel efficiently and safely, with Tilayi confirming that pumping is scheduled to begin imminently, weather permitting. "The salvors have put up a salvage plan to remove the support fuel. We are hoping that either tomorrow [Thursday] or the next day they are going to start the pumping operation," Tilayi commented on the preparations.

Thankfully, the stranded general cargo ship, which was en route to Tanzania before the incident, finds itself beached on sandy terrain rather than rocks. This fortunate situation lessens the likelihood of catastrophic hull breaches that could accelerate an oil spill. Still, the intactness of the ship structure is deemed temporary, with AMSA and the salvage team acutely aware of the race against time and tide.

Environmental activists, local authorities, and the maritime community are closely monitoring the situation, given the severe repercussions any spillage could have on the coastal ecosystem and nearby marine reserves. Efforts continue unabated, with hopes pinned on a successful fuel removal that could avert what could become a dire environmental disaster on South Africa's scenic west coast.