Clean-up underway on Madagascar's south coast after fuel spill

Sep 4, 2009, 12:10 GMT

Antananarivo - A clean-up operation was underway in southern Madagascar following a fuel spill from a wrecked Turkish-registered freighter, which has contaminated several kilometres of protected coastline, local media reported Friday.

State television on Thursday evening showed the first images of the affected stretch of coast around Cap Sainte Marie, Madagascar's southernmost point, which is renowned for its rich coral reefs and passing humpback whales.

The television images showed blackened beaches, dead fish and the near-sunken ship.

The MS Gulser Ana, bound for India with a cargo of 39,000 tonnes of phosphates, had to be abandoned by its 23-strong crew on August 26 a few kilometres off Cape Sainte Marie on the vast Indian Ocean island.

The cause of the accident to the 189-metre long, 30-metre-wide ship, which reportedly caught fire, is still unclear. The government on Thursday said the ship was also carrying large amounts of diesel and 700,000 litres of motor oil. It was not known how much of the fuel or the phosphates had been spilt.

On Thursday, a local newspaper reported that rescue workers were trying to save several beached whales whose blowholes had become blocked. The fate of the whales was unclear Friday.

From August to November, humpback whales pass through these waters on their way to their breeding grounds in Reunion Island.

Commenting on the possible impact of an oil spill on the whales, Karsten Brensing, a marine biologist at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, told the German Press Agency dpa the biggest threat was that they could be throw off route.

Whales 'don't have any GPS so they need landmarks,' he said. The mammals could become disoriented by an oil slick and steer off course, he said, 'in which case the reproduction of the whales could be significantly disturbed.'

While phosphates could also upset the underwater ecological balance by causing a profusion of algae, they were not deemed a major threat.

The area around Cap Sainte Marie is home to around 2,000 people living in four villages who rely on fishing for an income. The government has temporarily suspended all fishing in the area.

Foreign experts in marine pollution are helping hundreds of local workers in the clean-up. A ministerial delegation is overseeing the work.