TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Crews could take up to five days to recover up to 600 containers cast adrift off the coast of Kaohsiung City after a container ship sank on Friday (July 21), but there are fears that Tropical Storm Doksuri could disrupt salvage efforts and cause an oil spill.
The Palau-flagged container ship Angel capsized after taking on water for unknown reasons outside the Port of Kaohsiung. The ship was carrying 1,349 containers, reported CNA.
As of Friday evening, 23 containers had been retrieved and brought to the Port of Kaohsiung. To prevent residual oil from leaking out of the sunken ship, pollution prevention operations are scheduled for the afternoon, which include closing the tank vents of the ship and extracting fuel.
Dozens of containers are still seen floating off Kaohsiung's Zhongyun Fishing Port. (CNA photo)
Many of the containers have drifted south to the mouth of the Gaoping River, Xiaoliuqiu, and the coast of Pingtung County. Authorities of the Port of Kaohsiung, which is managed by the Taiwan International Ports Corporation (TIPC), told the news agency that it is expected to take four to five days to salvage all of the containers.
The actual timeline will depend on sea conditions, as the weather is a significant variable given that Tropical Storm Doksuri is predicted to head towards Taiwan.
Port officials said that service vessels, platform ships, and tugboats, have been mobilized to carry out container salvage operations. As of 10 p.m. Friday, 23 containers were recovered and towed to port.
The Angel sank with 393.4 metric tons of low-sulfur fuel oil, 98.1 metric tons of light diesel oil, and 0.348 metric tons of lubricant oil. Although the fuel tank oil valves have been closed, the fear is strong currents generated by the tropical storm may further damage the ship's hull, resulting in oil leakages.
Container retrieved from ocean. (CNA photo)
In addition to setting up containment booms in the area around the sunken ship, the Port of Kaohsiung said divers will seal the tank vents of the sunken ship on Saturday afternoon to prevent residual oil from seeping out of the vessel. Once weather conditions improve, pollution prevention operations such as the extraction of residual oil will be carried out.
