Ships collide at Walvis Bay

A CLEAN-UP operation to limit possible environmental damage is underway at Walvis Bay after two vessels collided in the harbour on Friday night. About 100 tonnes of heavy fuel (HFO) and diesel spilled into the sea.

The collision occurred within port limits at around midnight on Friday when the container carrier MV Umfolozi, 133 metres long, heading for Cape Town, and the dredger Ingwenya, which was on its way into the Walvis Bay harbour, crashed into one another. The Umfolozi, carrying some 335 tonnes of fuel oil, was struck on her starboard side, ripping a large hole in the wing fuel tanks.There was no loss of life or injury reported on either ship.A Namibian Ports Authority spokesperson said the spill was contained with barriers.Clean-up operations are currently underway with the help of the Namibian patrol vessel Nataniël Maxuilili, which carries the necessary equipment.HFO is a low-grade fuel primarily used in industrial boilers.It is also used as a principal fuel in marine applications in large diesel engines.Given its high boiling point and tar-like consistency, HFO typically requires heating before it can be moved through pipes or dispensed into a boiler or other heating vessel to be burned.HFO is the least expensive of the refined oil fuels and can only be used by facilities that have preheating capabilities.HFO is typically high in sulphur and other impurities that are released into the air when the fuel is burned.The Umfolozi has been stabilised along a side berth after she took on water.By yesterday morning, the process of salvaging her cargo and fuel had begun.The extent of the damage to the Ingwenya has not been fully determined yet, but it was classified as “superficial”.The Umfolozi is a Cypriot-registered vessel and representatives of the owner were expected at Walvis Bay yesterday.According to Ministry of Environment and Tourism Chief Warden Rod Braby, it is hard to estimate the possible damage to the marine ecology because of limited information.He said seals, penguins and cormorants would most likely be first to be affected but he hoped that booms large enough to contain the spill had been in place soon enough to keep the oil from being swept to Bird Island, about five kilometres north of the harbour.Heavy oil could clog the feathers of birds and could suffocate other animals, he said.The current windless conditions could prove to be an advantage in cleaning up the spill, since the oil would remain mostly in one spot, but wind could on the other hand help in the cleansing process because it would break up big patches into smaller tar balls which would be easier to suck up with the equipment used.Braby said that no significant oil spills had been experienced in the Walvis Bay harbour in the past.Another environmentalist, Keith Wearne, Chairman of the Coastal Environmental Trust of Namibia, said there was currently no cause for environmental concern.He said the spill had successfully been contained within the booms in the harbour.There was no sign of spillage entering the lagoon.Also, since Bird Island is elevated on stilts above the water, there was no reason to fear that the population of birds would be affected, he said.The Umfolozi, carrying some 335 tonnes of fuel oil, was struck on her starboard side, ripping a large hole in the wing fuel tanks.There was no loss of life or injury reported on either ship.A Namibian Ports Authority spokesperson said the spill was contained with barriers.Clean-up operations are currently underway with the help of the Namibian patrol vessel Nataniël Maxuilili, which carries the necessary equipment. HFO is a low-grade fuel primarily used in industrial boilers.It is also used as a principal fuel in marine applications in large diesel engines.Given its high boiling point and tar-like consistency, HFO typically requires heating before it can be moved through pipes or dispensed into a boiler or other heating vessel to be burned.HFO is the least expensive of the refined oil fuels and can only be used by facilities that have preheating capabilities.HFO is typically high in sulphur and other impurities that are released into the air when the fuel is burned.The Umfolozi has been stabilised along a side berth after she took on water.By yesterday morning, the process of salvaging her cargo and fuel had begun.The extent of the damage to the Ingwenya has not been fully determined yet, but it was classified as “superficial”.The Umfolozi is a Cypriot-registered vessel and representatives of the owner were expected at Walvis Bay yesterday.According to Ministry of Environment and Tourism Chief Warden Rod Braby, it is hard to estimate the possible damage to the marine ecology because of limited information.He said seals, penguins and cormorants would most likely be first to be affected but he hoped that booms large enough to contain the spill had been in place soon enough to keep the oil from being swept to Bird Island, about five kilometres north of the harbour.Heavy oil could clog the feathers of birds and could suffocate other animals, he said.The current windless conditions could prove to be an advantage in cleaning up the spill, since the oil would remain mostly in one spot, but wind could on the other hand help in the cleansing process because it would break up big patches into smaller tar balls which would be easier to suck up with the equipment used.Braby said that no significant oil spills had been experienced in the Walvis Bay harbour in the past.Another environmentalist, Keith Wearne, Chairman of the Coastal Environmental Trust of Namibia, said there was currently no cause for environmental concern.He said the spill had successfully been contained within the booms in the harbour.There was no sign of spillage entering the lagoon.Also, since Bird Island is elevated on stilts above the water, there was no reason to fear that the population of birds would be affected, he said.