KARACHI, Aug 23: The salvagers of the leaking Tasman Spirit failed to resume the lighterage operation on Saturday while the residents of the coastal areas said the irritating smell of crude oil grew stronger with each passing hour.

Meanwhile, the concerned officials, including the newly-inducted foreign expert, decided to reorganize the beach-cleaning operation being carried out by different agencies. The operation, albeit rather slow, was underway in the Shireen Jinnah Colony and Seaview Township during the day.

The KPT sources said the ship Fair Jolly, despite two separate attempts made in the morning and afternoon, could not be placed alongside Tasman Spirit due to high tide. The small ship has so far ferried a total of 30,000 tonnes of crude oil from the ill-fated vessel to Endeavour-II.

It is likely that the lighterage operation, which was suspended on Wednesday, would be resumed on Sunday. Some of the Fair Jolly’s crew had started speaking of fatigue and had stated that the conditions were not good for their health, a source told Dawn.

With fresh damage being caused to the vessel on Friday, which ran aground on July 27 with an oil cargo of about 67000 tonnes, some quarters believed that about 17,000 tonnes of oil had been spilt in all.

However, the authorities are still playing it close to their chest when it comes to navigational and other measures taken so far with regard to the Tasman Spirit. On Saturday, for instance, some newsmen were invited for a briefing at the KPT headquarters. They returned empty-handed after an stay of two hours as no official was forthcoming with additional information.

The ill-fated ship was still spilling a considerable amount of oil into the sea, said a visitor to the KPT channel where its two parts were drifting apart. “We saw many pools or patches of oil floating over the seawater in areas surrounding the ship and it was sure that the mass of black oil would drift to the beach during high tide,” added an expert.

In the meantime, the salvagers and the environmental experts did not carry out any aerial spray on Saturday. In another development, the new environmental supervisors hired by the salvagers had expressed their dissatisfaction over the performance of the various bodies engaged in the beach-cleaning operation. It is likely that a fully fledged meeting of all officials concerned would be held on Monday so that a comprehensive strategy could be finalized and implemented.

Some independent sources said the ministry of communications was still trying to suppress information about the ship with the sole objective of impressing upon the public that damages were “cosmetic” in nature and all was well so far as environment was concerned.

A KPT source said two foreign experts engaged in the salvage operations had been admitted to a hospital as their condition had deteriorated after inhaling toxic gases. One foreign expert, Dr Karen Purnell of the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation had left the country, said the source, adding that she had been replaced by another expert, Hugh Parker.

According to some sources, the fact-finding committee appointed by the ministry of communications had interviewed and recorded the statements of the ship’s crew. However, the KPT staff and officers could not be interviewed so far, added the sources.