Oil leaks detected during salvage of wrecked cargo ship off South Africa

Salvors have begun cleanup operations in response to reports of oil leaks from the wreck of a cargo vessel that had run aground and broken apart off the western coast of South Africa in July last year.

The oil that had remained within the Panama-registered general cargo vessel Ultra Galaxy reportedly leaked into the surrounding waters as salvage work was ongoing.

The cleanup effort is being undertaken by 12 teams with a total of around 180 personnel who had been mobilised in anticipation of additional instances of pollution originating from the wreck.

The wreck removal effort on Ultra Galaxy began in December 2024 some five months after the vessel ran aground.

The vessel was underway in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Cape Town when it developed a heavy list at around 03:00 local time on July 8. The 18 crewmembers, all identified as Filipino nationals, later abandoned ship and were picked up out of the water by responding good Samaritan vessels.

The abandoned vessel continued to drift until it came to rest just off a remote coastal area known as Brand se Baai a few days later.

Before the end of July, the ship broke into four sections due to bad weather in the area where it became beached.