Expensive shipwreck at the Namibian coast

Namibia is spending millions on a shipwreck that they don’t own, citing efforts to avert a possible environmental calamity, after failing to trace the owner of the vessel.
The intervention to recover 139 tonnes of oil from the abandoned ship, Frotamerica, which stranded near Luderitz on 15 February 2013, costs state coffers almost N$10 million. Apart from the oil, it was found that the wreck has large amounts of debris on board consisting of old furniture and redundant equipment, as well as large volumes of asbestos-containing items used in the vessel’s original construction, which was stored in various cabins.
The removal of this rubble could wipe another N$4 to N$6 million out of the state coffers, unless new owners are found to remove the wreck at their own costs. To make matters worse, it would be impossible to track down the original owners and hold them accountable for the costs incurred by the government.
Fears existed that if the ship sank and break apart from the assault of the rough ocean it might expose the pristine area, which is one of Namibia’s most important bird areas to oil pollution, as well as the wreckage which poses a danger to sea life there. It can cost the government between N$10 million and N$250 million to remove the Frotamerica, depending on the condition of the wreck, for example if it can be re-floated or not.
The area which the ship is posing a pollution risk to is called !Anichab and is very close to Staple Rock and Ichaboe Island, situated within the only Marine Protected Area in Namibia.
The hulking 193 metre, 35 000 tonne vessel was ripped from its moorings after a strong south-westerly wind broke it loose from a tugboat, which reportedly was on its way from Brazil to India to sell the ship for wreckage material.
Attempts to retrieve the large vessel and tow it back to the Luderitz harbour were aborted due to the difficult weather conditions. The National Risk Management Committee classified the removal of the pollutants from the wreck as a national emergency and accordingly directed the Ministry of Works and Transport to act forthwith to ensure that the pollutants are removed without delay.
The oil-recovery operations started on 15 July 2013 in the engine room and by 23 August 2013 an amount of 139 tonnes of oil were recovered from the wreck and transferred to Luderitz for onwards transmission to Walvis Bay for final disposal.