Karachi, Aug 23: A damaged Greek tanker has again begun to leak oil into the shores of the Karachi coast, obliterating a week of intensive clean-up efforts along the Arabian Sea coastline, officials said today. Rough seas also compounded problems with the oil salvage operation from the MV Tasman Spirit, which ran aground near the busy port on July 27 and began to spew some of the 62,000 tonnes of oil stowed in its hold.
"Now the ship has broken into two parts and oil has started leaking again," Karachi Port Trust official Brigadier Iftikhar Arshad said. "We hope to resume the oil salvage operations by midday or afternoon when the high tides are forecast to subside," he said.
Karachi Port authorities are working to salvage the 18,000 tonnes of oil still stowed in the wrecked tanker. "The leakage cannot be measured but it is still manageable and we have sprayed more dispersants on the coast," Arshad said.
Exhausted workers toiling on the beach were dismayed by the fresh leaks, which meant that their efforts to remove the blackened sand and piles of dead marine life soaked by the 15,000 tonnes of oil already spilled would have to be redoubled.
Coastal residents said the foul stench of oil had returned, bringing with it complaints of throat and eye infections. Bureau Report