Environmental Disaster Averted Off Cape Town

South African disaster managers say they are confident they can remove oil from a stricken cargo ship in Cape Town’s Table Bay. The Turkish ship Seli 1 ran aground Tuesday and the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) took off the crew.

The Cape Argus newspaper reported salvors were preparing to offload 660 tons of fuel from the ship. It was not clear whether the ship was breaking up or not, but authorities had decided to first remove the cargo before trying to refloat the ship.

The ship is also carrying about 30,000 tons of coal.

The Seli 1 ran into heavy weather as it rounded the Cape of Good Hope and the crew decided to pull into Cape Town’s Table Bay and see out the storm, reports in South African media said.

National Ports Authority spokesman Coen Birkenstock said: "To secure themselves they dropped anchor in Table Bay, but we suspect the anchor was drawn."

The ship then ran aground and eventually its engine room flooded. The sea had been very rough on Tuesday and yesterday, with three metre (15 foot) breakers, preventing salvage operations.

The Turkish Seli 1, was built in South Korea 29 years ago.