MS Olivia Shipwreck Prompts Massive Penguin Rescue
A massive operation to save ten of thousands of penguins from an oil spill is underway on an island chain, halfway between Argentina and Africa.
Officials from the British territory, Nightingale Island – part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, worked tirelessly over the weekend to save the islands population of Northern Rockhopper penguins who are threatened by an oil spill from a bulk carrier that ran aground March 16.
Rescuers have been working since the accident to save the endangered penguins; so far 5,000 have been moved to safety. However, at t least 300 penguins have died from the spill. Officials taking part in the rescue operation say that the spill occurred at the worst time- the end of the birds malting season, during which they don’t eat. The birds are now coming out of that season and are very hungry.
The Malta flagged M.S. Olivia ran aground at Spinner Point, a rocky peninsula on Nightingale Island’s rugged northern coast, fracturing its hull which eventually split the vessel in two. Several hours after the grounding and after it was apparent the vessel could not free itself, 12 of the 22 crew member asked to leave the ship and were transferred to the nearby, fishing vessel, MV Edinburg. The ten remaining crewmembers were safely transferred to the Edinburg the following day with the help of crew from the nearby cruise ship, MS Prince Albert II, who used the ships zodiacs to catch the stranded crew members, as they jumped from the Olivia’s pilot ladder. None of the 22 crewmembers (1 Greek and 21 Filipino) were injured in the accident. They are being cared for by local Tristan da Cunha authorities.
On the morning of Friday the 18th officials learned that the Olivia had broken up in severe swells in the middle of the night. Sending 1,500 tons of heavy crude oil into the water, along with tons of soya beans that the ship was transporting from Rio de Janeiro to Singapore.
Officials say that oil surrounds the island and a slick extends eight miles offshore, not only threatening the 200,000 penguins living there, but also the rock lobster fishery and millions of nesting seabirds that make the Tristan da Cunha islands their home. Environmentalist on the island estimate some 20,000 Northern Rockhopper penguins have been affected by the oil. Environmentalist have concerns as to what impact the 65,266 tons of whole raw soya beans will have on the fragile marine eco-system and fishing beds.
Conservationist officers say that volunteers are working to clean penguins as soon as they wash ashore, in the hopes of saving them. They also say that besides the oil another threat lies in the risk of rodents from the broken ship being introduced to the island. The egg eating rodents would threaten species across the island, especially the seabirds. Bait was set following the grounding, to catch any rodent that may have made it shore.
Salvage vessels have arrived to the scene but have been unable to remove what are now pieces of a bulk carrier, due to inclement weather and the challenge of the wrecks position on the rocks. Tristan Administrator Sean Burns and his team will continue to assess the situation and make decisions to remove the wreck when possible. Burns has indicated several times that the his priority is cleaning up the oil.
The Greek owned M.S. Olivia is operated by TMS Bulkers Ltd., located in Athens.
For updates and photos of the incident, visit the Tristan da Cunha Government's MS Olivia Disaster Homepage.