Off the coast of New Zealand, a Liberian-flagged vessel struck a reef and started leaking oil early Wednesday.
Some oil-soaked dead birds have been found in the area surrounding the ship, Maritime New Zealand said.
Four little blue penguins and two shags were rescued Friday afternoon from a nearby island by trained oiled wildlife responders, the government agency said, and are being treated.
Maritime New Zealand’s commander at the scene, Rob Service, said teams were inspecting beaches where the public had reported sighting oil but none had yet been found.
Almost all the 1,700 cubic meters (450,000 gallons) of heavy fuel oil carried by the ship was still contained within the vessel’s hull, he said in a prepared statement.
But the operation to remove the oil, being led by Svitzer Salvage, would be complex, he said, adding: “There is no way of doing this quickly.”
Maritime New Zealand has deployed more than 100 people to respond to the incident. Chemical dispersants are being used to try to break down the slick, which the agency said had maintained a constant size Friday.
Officials fear the stricken ship may break up and spill additional oil as its condition deteriorates.
“I think we’d expect that at some point to have further problems and potentially even break up,” Transport Minister Steven Joyce told broadcaster TVNZ.
Greenpeace expressed “extreme concern” about the spill and urged the government to avoid using further toxic chemicals in an attempt to disperse it.
“This is an unfortunate illustration of just how difficult it is to deal with oil spills at sea,” the organization’s Steve Abel said. “Even a slow, and relatively accessible, oil spill like this one has clearly stretched New Zealand’s response capability to its limits.
“It is also potential disaster for the blue whales and dolphins presently calving in the area, as well as numerous other marine species.”
The stranded ship ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef, about 12 nautical miles off the coast, in the early hours of Wednesday.
Source : CNN
