Oil tanker cleanup behind schedule

Cleanup operations following the oil spill just off the coast of the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi from a grounded tanker in August are taking longer than expected, a port official said on Thursday. "The cleanup has not gained momentum, I am not happy with it at the moment. It has not gained the support it needs," Brigadier Iftikhar Arshad, the manager of the Karachi Port Trust, told IRIN from Karachi. The Greek-registered Tasman Spirit, which veered off course and ran aground on 27 July, carried about 67,000 mt of crude oil. More than 15,000 mt spilled into the sea following the high-velocity impact, causing a huge oil slick that spread quickly across a large portion of the coastline and caused a popular beach along a thickly populated shorefront to be closed to the public after it was swamped with a thick layer of oil. Environmentalists spoke of widespread damage to the marine environment with huge amounts of marine life reported dead or dying, as well as the threat of long-term damage to Karachi's rich mangrove forests. Residents living close to the oil-covered beach reported breathing problems because of the toxic fumes, with most vacating upmarket neighbourhoods at the seafront to move further inland as doctors warned of possible long-term ramifications. Other ships were called in to help divest the Tasman Spirit of its remaining contents in a race against time as the stricken ship looked likely to break apart before the oil could be fully off-loaded. To further complicate matters, one of the main salvage ships hove too close to jagged outcrops of rocks and damaged its keel. And, in the meanwhile, the grounded oil tanker finally broke apart, forcing salvage crews to position inflatable booms around it in order to keep it upright, thus enabling them to continue with the salvage. "There are three operations involved with the oil spillage: salvage, cleaning and wreckage removal. The salvage is almost over, the cleaning is currently taking place and the wreckage removal will commence when the insurance companies decide who should remove it," Arshad said. The cleanup operation is currently being undertaken with manual labour, Arshad explained, adding that all of the sand needs to be washed and the sea cleansed of the debilitating effects of the crude. "Without the support of machines, it could take up to seven months to complete the operation," he said. The aftermath of the oil spillage will be felt for quite some time, Arshad said. "Vegetation, marine life and people's health have all been affected detrimentally," he stressed. "It will take marine life at least ten years to rejuvenate and we are not yet sure of the affect on vegetation such as the mangroves," Arshad stressed.