Ship runs aground along the Wild Coast

The BBC China is said to be carrying steel and aluminum

A 65 000 ton vessel has run aground at Port Grosvenor along the Wild Coast. The BBC China, said to be carrying steel and aluminum en route to Durban, has floundered along a stretch of coastline that has become notorious for shipwrecks. This poses a potential environmental threat to the fragile marine ecology.

It is still unknown how this happened and neither the ship’s owners nor their agents are willing to talk. One rumour is that the engine flooded, forcing it to run aground. Once the crew was airlifted to safety, salvagers went on board to assess the damage.

Gert Potgieter of Subtech Diving said: "The vessel ran aground and flooded. The engine room, the bulks, the tanks, everything is full of water so there's no chance of being able to move her. What we have to do now is remove all the hazardous materials like its bunker fuels, remove that so that it doesn't go out into the sea and disrupt our ozone."

There is already a slick of oil on the water's surface and on the rocks. However, it poses minimal threat to the environment. Richard Morrison, an angler, said: "Well oil is poison and everyone knows it kills sea life. As fishermen we're disturbed."