Thanks to prompt response by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority marine operations team, an environmental disaster was averted at the port of Tema this week.
According to a statement from GPHA, port security managed to prevent an oil spill when the oil tanker, the MT Alice, loaded with 1 200 metric tons of light crude oil, split into two at the port.
While the bowl of the vessel remained at the location where the vessel had split, the stern began drifting towards the harbour area of the port.
“We were able to pull the stern out of the danger area where it won’t disturb other vessels,” said Tema Port security manager, Joseph Punamane.
He said the cause of the accident was still unknown, however unconfirmed reports indicated that it could have been due to poor maintenance of the vessel or overloading of cargo.
Fortunately, a nearby vessel came to the rescue of the crew and there were no casualties.
The GPHA said this was the first such accident recorded at the anchorage of the port or in any Ghanaian waters.
