Could Lyttelton deal with a holed tanker?

Press, 11 July 1980, Page 3

Could Lyttelton deal with a holed tanker?

A fullyjaden oil tanker, bound for Lyttelton Harbour, goes off course in dense fog and heavy seas off Godley Head and •runs aground, tearing a great gap in her hull from which gush tonnes of oil — what happens next? According to Captain D. Davies, of the Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport in Auckland, the immediate action to be taken is up to the local harbourmaster.

This was explained yesterday at an oil pollution seminar held at Lyttelton. It included representatives of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, local authorities, oil companies, and a wide range of Government departments.

Captain Davies said that most tankers sailing off the New Zealand coast were well manned and well equipped, making such a catastrophe a remote possibility. However, following international regulations laid down by the International Maritime Consultative Organisation, New Zealand, through the Marine Division of the Ministry, has equipped itself with the means for reducing the impact of any such disaster.

The Ministry of Transport has a working contingency plan for immediate action if required. The first, and ideal, solution in such a case, said Captain Davies, would be to pump the oil cargo from the stricken vessel into another ship. The Ministry had three special pumps which could be flown to any needed site or taken to a stricken vessel by sea. Two problems arise in such an exercise. It takes time to get the equipment from Auckland, and an empty vessel has to be found to take on the cargo from the damaged tanker. One alternative, much to the dismay of shipowners,

would-be salvers,- and insurers, would be — if the winds were unlikely to blow the leaking oil to land — to tow the tanker to sea where she might be scuttled. Visiting ships are levied to provide a fund for dealing with oil spills. From this fund come moneys for equipment, training, and the reimbursement of local bodies should the need arise. Harbourmasters are re-

sponsible for Enforcing regulations within their own harbour limits; the Ministry is responsible for the open sea and coastal beaches, including tidal waters. The Ministry’ has big rubber fenders to enable the positioning of a receiving vessel alongside a leaking tanker which is being pumped clean. Also, New Zealand has a reciprocal agreement with

Australia for the emergency supply of pumping and oil dispersant equipment and personnel. The Ministry’ has 16 sets of oil dispersant spray pumps and associated equipment, one of which was demonstrated at Lyttelton Harbour yesterday aboard the tug Godley. Three of the 16 sets are stored in the South Island. If the oil from a stricken

tanker cannot be offloaded and is leaking so that it endangers coastal regions, the Ministry has large booms and a “skimmer” which can take the floating oil from the water enclosed by the booms. The skimmer and its pump can reclaim about 40 tonnes of oil an hour from an oil slick. Specially formulated dispersant sprays are used to

break up oil slicks using the Ministry’s equipment. The spray booms and their nozzles are mounted ahead of wooden mixing boards towed alongside tugs through oil slicks. But, said Captain Davies, New Zealand could cope only with an oil spill of about 3000 tonnes. Anything greater would be beyond the division’s equipment capabilities.