Soloman Island oil spill

[Paul L]

Grounded Ship Leaks 80 Tons Of Oil Near UNESCO World Heritage Site
More than 660 tons of oil remains aboard the Hong Kong-flagged ship, which is continuing to leak.

An environmental disaster is unfolding in the Pacific after a large ship ran aground and began leaking oil next to a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Solomon Islands, Australian officials said Friday.

Footage taken this week shows little progress has been made in stopping the Solomon Trader ship from leaking oil since it ran aground Feb. 5, according to the Australian High Commission in the Solomon Islands.

Australian experts estimate more than 80 tons of oil has leaked into the sea and shoreline in the ecologically delicate area and that more than 660 tons of oil remains aboard the Hong Kong-flagged ship, which is continuing to leak......

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/groun...b087c2f294d06a

[Dave_S]

Arhhhhhhhh have a look at the POS boat.

[El Pinguino]

POS Boat? 25 year old bulker https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais...3aa8d6416df08d ... nothing out of the ordinary there... nothing remarkable about ending up on the beach either.

What is remarkable is that one month on no response of any consequence from Solomon Islands Government or the ship owner's P&I Club.

Thus far it would appear that just one DB has been compromised... no cause for alarm... yet...

Huge difference here compared to response to Kea Trader stranding last year..

[Dave_S]

I was looking at the apparent lack of maintenance.

The owners lease it to the mining company and say they are not responsible for the ownership or opperation, the mining company say they are working with the authorities, I take that as code for arguing with the authorities.

The ships primary and emergency generators don't work, so the crane doesn't work. Which means they can't board repair equipment so they say they are unable to make good repairs.

[boatman1]

Seems inexcusable that there's no authority that will have the leaking bunker pumped. There is a United Nations organization with what is probably a budget that would/could allow for salvage funding in such a situation. Guess it' s not a "sexy" enough issue and far from Manhatten. Too bad

[ArmyDaveNY]

It seems odd that there is no boom yet. Unless of course the weather disrupted the installation or operation of a boom. Hopefully they learn from this and are more prepared in the future.

It would have been nice if there was a discussion of how it happened and a more detailed salvage plan, although it sounds like they don't have any plan right now.

[contrail]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

I was looking at the apparent lack of maintenance.

The owners lease it to the mining company and say they are not responsible for the ownership or opperation, the mining company say they are working with the authorities, I take that as code for arguing with the authorities.

The ships primary and emergency generators don't work, so the crane doesn't work. Which means they can't board repair equipment so they say they are unable to make good repairs.

I am guessing that 99% or bareboat charterers (demise charters, which this may well be) don't realize that the charterer assumes all the risks and responsibilities of ownership. Including responsibility for managing the crew.

[Taipe]

The song, "Business As Usual" comes to mind. "...the king is in the counting room, counting out his money"!

[Tetepare]

No strange event in Solomon Islands. Coasts are littered with abandoned ships- ship has problem, offshore owner does nothing. US and Japanese ships are still leaking oil today.


Even if SI government wanted to do something, an envelope of cash would make the problem go away.



Rennell is one of the few places that SHOULD receive global protection. So why are they mining bauxite at a UNESCO site/ island? So they can turn out like Nauru?


So far as the residents go, they gave the go-ahead for mining operations. Pure greed. They've seen what happened to the mine in Bougainville, the Gold Ridge mine on Guadalcanal, the forests of New Georgia, and the destruction of Nauru. Despite all this, they elected to trade tranquility for money. Then they scream they got ripped off https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-mining-rights


Sad to be cynical since Solomon Islands is my second home. But short-sighted greed, corruption, and insufficient oversight has repeatedly had grave consequences, yet they never learn.

[El Pinguino]

2 RAAF C-130s and a C27J left RAAF Williams ( outside Melbourne) heading north last night ( at about 0900Z)... I wonder if they are on their way to the Solomons with pollution control kit.

Marinetraffic shows a tanker in the bay.... maybe things are moving along...

Condition of the ship doesn't look too bad... just some rust runs from the maindeck scuppers...
Dead ship? Salvage teams are used to dealing with ships with no power... they bring their own.....