As the second anniversary of the Amorgos oil spill approaches, Chinese-language media are criticizing the government for its failure to solve the problems caused by the oil spilled from the Greek-registered freighter.
On Jan. 14, 2001, the MV Amorgos, on its way from Indonesia to China, ran aground near Kenting National Park in Pingtung County due to bad weather. Four days later, 1,150 tonnes of fuel oil remaining on the ship began to spill, contaminating 6,987m2 of the coastal area within the Lungkeng Ecological Reserve.
PTS FILE PHOTO
The Amorgos was further damaged by seven typhoons that passsed over Taiwan in 2001. In May of last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications only removed one tenth of the wreck to Kaohsiung Harbor, dumping it as scrap metal. Some parts of the wreck, however, still sit at the bottom of the waters off Kenting.
According to a Public Television Service (PTS) news team, 17 major pieces of the ship remain unstable on the sea floor, damaging vulnerable coral reefs.
"We don't believe that the pieces of the ship will become ideal artificial reefs like but that is what the government claims," Ke Chin-yuan (柯金源), a senior PTS news producer, told the Taipei Times yesterday.
The PTS has been monitoring the area for almost two years.
The PTS documentary team has filmed the area eight times.
"The pollution is still there. We saw hundreds of tiny pieces of the ship floating at a depth ranging from 11m to 17m," Ke said.
According to PTS, a 370m by 250m area, 1.4km away from the coast still has remnants of the ship that have not been cleaned up.
Li Juel-der (
"Experts from Singapore hired by the ship's owner did a comprehensive investigation last year, saying that the remaining pieces of the ship remain stable," Li said.
In addition, half of the 60,000 tonnes of iron ore on board the Amorgos were removed after the other half sank into the sea.
Li said the ministry doesn't have a plan to monitor the wreckage because it won't hamper the passage of other ships.
Kenting National Park Headquarters and the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Hengchun (恆春) continue to evaluate the damage to coral near the ecological preserve.
Results won't be available to the public until the compensation procedure is completed.
In April last year, Taiwan received NT$61.3 million in compensation for the cleanup of the oil spill from the ship's insurance company, Assuranceforeningen Gard (Gjensidig).
Environmental Protection Administrator Hau Lung-bin (
Chiau Wen-yan (
"The government should not be reluctant to discuss the oil spill. What will we have learned about the tragedy if it is not passed on?" Chiau said.
A PTS news feature on the Amorgos oil spill called Our Island, will be broadcast on channel 53 from 10pm to 11pm tonight. The program will be air again at 10am tomorrow.
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