Ultra Galaxy runs aground off West Coast

The general cargo ship Ultra Galaxy has run aground off the South African West Coast and efforts to prevent a fuel and oil spill are now underway.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) said on Wednesday that a team is also at work attempting to salvage the Panama registered vessel’s fertiliser cargo.
The vessel, which its 18 Filipino crew abandoned on Monday, when it started severely listing, eventually ran aground off the coast of Brand se Baai on the West Coast, 385km north of Cape Town, at around 10pm on Tuesday.
The salvage operations are currently focused on offloading the vessel’s full load of fertiliser in bags as well as low-sulphur bunkering fuel and hydraulic oils. Environmental measures are also being put in place to contain any possible spills of the cargo.
One tug was dispatched to the vessel on Monday and arrived at its location on Tuesday, followed by a second tug with more staff and additional equipment that arrived in the evening. The vessel sent its distress call at 3am on Monday and was located about 60 nautical miles west of Doring Bay. Three ships, the Fivos, the Rio Grande Express, and the fishing vessel Malachite, diverted from their routes to assist the vessel in distress. At the time of the distress call the vessel was en route to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The unharmed crew was found floating in a life raft and boarded the Malachite, which took them to St Helena Bay. The 13 800 dwt Ultra Galaxy is 124 metres long and was built in 2008. The vessel is managed by Denmark-based dry bulk operator Ultrabulk and is owned by Fujita Shoji according to Equasis.