Cimaron threatens Kenting oil spill cleanup

The head of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), paid a visit to Kenting National Park in Pingtung County yesterday to scrutinize the condition of a shipwrecked vessel in anticipation of tropical storm Cimaron.

In light of the approaching storm and delays that have already occurred in the removal of the vessel, environmental officials and the salvage company removing the MV Amorgos said it may take up to three months to remove the Greek cargo ship from the southern coast.

The Amorgos, which was shipwrecked in mid-January, has already spilled 1,150 tonnes of oil into the sea and polluted coastal reefs in the Lungkeng Ecological Preservation area (龍坑生態保護區) in Kenting National Park. Primary cleanup work for the oil spill was not completed until March. Nearly 200 tonnes of oil remain within the ship's hull.

"We had expected the oil removal to be completed by the end of April, but the bidding process was delayed," an EPA official said yesterday.

Officials say that in their effort to look for a professional salvage company and to follow international laws, the bidding process was unduly delayed, prolonging the second phase of cleanup. Originally officials had expected to finish the task before the start of the typhoon season. But the early arrival of the season, which typically begins in June, has added additional complexities to the clean up task.

As of yesterday evening Cimaron was about 240km south of Ouluanpi, the southernmost tip of Taiwan. The storm was moving in a north-northeasterly direction at a speed of 15kph, the Central Weather Bureau said.

Removal of the remaining oil on board the ship by the Singapore salvage company, Semco Salvage & Marine, began on May 9. So far, three tonnes of oil have been removed from the hull. A representative from the company speaking to the press in Kenting yesterday said they are confident the Amorgos, which is half submerged, would be able to ride out the storm without spilling more oil into the sea.

The company plans to complete removal of the oil by May 27, but local residents questioned the feasibility of such a goal, saying that weather conditions in Kenting are unsettled at this time of year.

"The weather is not the only problem, the tidal conditions are another issue they need to think about. As far as I am aware, good conditions to undertake the cleanup work exist only for 10 to 15 days each month," said Yang Wen-chen (楊文禎), a local resident and scuba diving instructor.

The salvage company had originally planned to begin removal of the 60,000 tonnes of iron ore aboard the ship yesterday. But Cimaron has also delayed that effort.

Hau also held a press conference yesterday morning with a cross-agency task force established to handle the oil spill. At the conference Hau denied recent reports that have suggested additional oil has been spilled into the ocean during the cleanup process.

The task force also said that they are taking measures to insure no further pollution occurs, asking all of the agencies involved in the cleanup to carefully monitor the oil removal with the use of patrol boats and helicopters.

Hau said that if more oil was spilled he would take responsibility.

"If the storm causes violent waves and the ship breaks in half, more oil may escape and cause further pollution. If this happens, I will take whatever responsibility I should," Hau said.