ShipSpotting.com
South African maritime authorities said they were coordinating an emergency response to a large crude carrier off Port St Johns on the Eastern Cape coast.
The operation was being conducted by the South African Maritime Safety Authority and the Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre.
In a statement on Wednesday SAMSA said that the crude oil tanker, Yuan Hua Hu, was safely anchored 1 nautical mile off Dome Bluff on the outskirts of Port St Johns and was being monitored by the MRCC.
“The tanker is not carrying any cargo. All 27 crew on-board the casualty vessel is reported to be safe and no injuries have been reported,” SAMSA said.
The AMSOL tug, Siyanda, was deployed from Durban this morning at 05h40 and is expected to arrive on-scene at 20h00 on Wednesday night.
“She will act as the standby tug until the arrival of the emergency towing tug, ETV, which was deployed from Cape Town this morning with an experienced Salvage Master on-board. The ETV is due to arrive at the tanker within 48hrs,” SAMSA said.
NSRI stations from Durban, Port Edward, Shelly Beach, East London station 7 and NSRI Port St Johns auxiliary station 28 remain on high alert while a Durban Transnet National Ports Authority helicopter will be on standby throughout the night.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment placed their Tier 1 Oil Pollution Response team and a Smit International Salvage team on alert and ready to deploy from Cape Town.
SAMSA said it remained in direct communication with the vessel owner representatives and the master, who is providing their full cooperation to contain the threat to the South African coastline.
