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Oil Spill Causes Big Fishery Damage in Taiwan
The oil spill from a grounded Greek cargo ship has caused damage of more than US$3.12 million to the local fishing industry, according to reports reaching here from Taipei Monday.
The vessel ran aground on January 14 less than two kilometers off the coast of Kenting, at the island's southernmost tip.
About 1,100 tons of oil leaked from its broken tanks and contaminated miles of the pristine coastline that constitutes part of Taiwan's Kenting Park.
The reef shelf along the Kenting coast is a traditional shellfish and seaweed harvesting area and that the oil contamination, which has taken the local authorities almost 40 days to clean up, has destroyed all marine life in the inter-tidal zone for many years to come.
The owner of the ship began to pump out the fuel remaining on the ship Sunday, and had already siphoned off 4.2 tons as of Monday.
The wreckage of the 35,000-ton ship, along with its cargo of some 60,000 tons of iron ore, is still lying on the rocks off the coast of Kenting.
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