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KARACHI, Aug 30: While oil spillage from the foreign vessel Tasman Spirit continued to lash the beach, salvagers have now realized that the ongoing lighterage operation they are engaged in is getting more and more troublesome with the passage of time.
According to a KPT press release, issued on Saturday, tilting of the aft section of the broken oil tanker has plunged it 16 degrees deeper making stability of the rear portion even more precarious.
Sources privy to the lighterage operation said that efforts were on to prevent the ship from further tilt. The prime concern is to ensure flow of traffic in the channel and for the purpose tugs and other supports are being placed in order to forestall any major drift or destabilization of the oil tanker.
Though, the lighterage and spillage-control efforts are under way simultaneously, the salvagers have been paying more attention to lighterage than plugging the spillage. They are not ready to take measures to check the spillage as this ultimately would delay lighterage operation which, they said, had already suffered inordinate delay.
The Tasman Spirit, carrying 67,532 tons of crude oil from Iran had run aground on July 27. In the ensuing lighterage operation, which commenced only in the second week of August, ships and barges have so far succeeded in retrieving 37,000 tons of crude from the broken tanker which has already flushed about 26,000 tons into the sea. The spillage has already caused a colossal loss to the marine life, coastal habitat, environment and the populated areas along the coastal belt while the oil slick devastated the beach.
According to the KPT release, as the spillage continued on Saturday, aerial spray was carried out on a patch of oil outside Port Qasim. The spread of oil in new directions is affecting Hawkesbay, Sandspit, Korangi Creek and islands as well some portion of the port, said marine sources.
It has officially been stated that additional booms have been deployed at Boat Basin and some sensitive port area to deflect the oil towards the natural oil catchment areas of OP-1 and Boat Basin.
In the meantime, the Sea Angel, which had desiphoned about 3,300 tons of oil from Tasman Spirit is busy offloading oil into the Endeavour-II. It is likely that the Sea Angel would go alongside Tasman Spirit again for a last trip on Sunday afternoon.
DUMPING: The removal of oil-soaked sand, debris and other material from the slick-hit beach and their disposal into a landfill site would start from September 1. The dumping site, as identified by the city government and developed on scientific ground as per environmental standards, is located at government dumping area at Jam Chakro, 10km from Surjani Town, said an EPA source.
Meanwhile, beach cleaning operation continued at slow pace on Saturday. Keen observers claim that despite official meetings and reports by environmentalists, the cleaning operation had not been put on right direction so far.
In this connection, they also blamed shortage of equipment and personal-safety measures for the workers as well.
A major operation, scheduled to be launched after completion of the lighterage operation on Sunday, is very likely to be delayed further due the lack of coordination among various agencies as well as non-cooperation on the part of the P&I Club, adds PPI.
Recently, during a meeting at the KPT, the new chief of the foreign experts’ team, Hugh Parker, had expressed his dissatisfaction over the lack of coordination and inappropriate beach-cleaning methods applied by various agencies, including the KPT, DHA, city government and Edhi Foundation.
