Oil spill off South African Coast

A cargo ship which ran aground near a South African nature reserve last Thursday dumped over three tons of oil into the waters, reports conclude. The Kiani Satu was damaged when adverse weather conditions forced the ship into the shoreline, causing the leak which allowed the crude to escape. As of Saturday the ship was no longer spilling fuel, and has now been moved safely off-shore.

While dozens of water foul were successfully rescued, cleaned, and placed into rehabilitation facilities, conservationists say the clean-up of the reserve could take years. They are further uncertain what long-term effects the incident will have on the affected estuaries, along with the fish which call the surrounding waters home.

Officials note the situation could have been much worse; the ship was hauling three hundred tons of the fossil fuel, thus a major accident could have been catastrophic. The oil still on board has been successfully transferred to the upper containment decks of the ship, and no further leakage is anticipated.