The municipality of Port Nolloth and the South African Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) have approached the courts for permission for two stranded vessels to be dismantled after six ships ran aground two years ago.

Altogether six ships ran aground at Port Nolloth in 2009 during a vicious winter storm  and Samsa and the Port Nolloth council have been fighting with the ships’ owners for permission to dismantle them.

However, the owners of these ships must accept the authority of the court before Samsa can arrange to dismantle the vessels and sell them to scrap metal merchants.

The Port Nolloth municipality is currently negotiating with the owners of the Mace about getting the wreck removed as the ship has a huge hole in its side and is filled with bottles and litter from people who have visited the wreck.

The biggest ship, the 171-ton Pafuri, is beached in front of the town’s main hotel and shopping area and, while it is a tourist attraction, council officials say it’s particularly hazardous for people exploring the vessel.

According to Samsa’s Debbie James, the hull of the Pafuri is badly damaged and trying to refloat it would be dangerous as it may sink in the only channel leading into Port Nolloth harbour, effectively closing it.

She says that if the owners of the vessel do not remove it then there “is a legal process” that Samsa must follow to allow it to have the vessel dismantled and removed.

Four of the smaller ships that ran aground in 2009 have already been removed.

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These guys spend years in courts trying to decide who pays for the removal etc.
HERE’S THE DEAL: the companies involved (ie. owners ,operators, the country of origion) will jointly share the cost of the “immediate removal” of the vessel from our beaches& coastlines (where they continue to leak oils – tableview beach just had another incident of crude washed up – fouling all who walk & use the ocean there) AND THEN – they can take their time in courts over the next couple of years to figure out who should pay whom back!!
It is not our mess - WHY MUST WE SIT WITH THE BURDEN OF THIS? - L. Friedberg