MSC takes blame for KZN nurdle spill

THE Mediterranean Shipping Company has taken the rap for the nurdle-based pollution crisis unleashed in the ocean off KwaZulu-Natal and on the beaches since the stor m of October 10.

Operations ma n a g e r Captain Ian Rosario told Independent Media that the company would foot the bill for the clean-up operation that the South African Maritime Authority had hired the company Drizit Environmental to carry out.

“We can’t put a figure to it,” Rosario said, adding that the company had engaged on the matter with its insurers.

“It has been initiated by virtue of the fact that the cargo (containing the small plastic pellets) was from a container on an MSC vessel.”

Asked what he thought about a call by Desmond D’Sa, of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, for the company to be prosecuted, Rosario said it was not illegitimate for its vessel, the MSC Susanna, to be carrying polyethylene.

“It’s allowed to be carried by sea and in containers. It was just an unfortunate incident that occurred. The ship’s crew were caught unawares. They dropped anchor and did everything they could. It is unfortunate that there was a small collision with another vessel that led to the containers falling off. By virtue of this, the cargo spilled out.”

Rosario said he was not aware that nurdles became toxic with time. The toxicity is a huge concern for environmentalists and fishermen.

D’Sa said the spillage threatened the livelihood and health of 12 000 subsistence fishermen in Durban.

According to Jone Porter, of the South African Association for Marine Biological Research, which is spearheading a citizen clean-up operation, the pellets attract toxins and may then be eaten by sea creatures.

She added that plastic would not decompose in the sea but rather break up into smaller particles and that these collectively had a larger total surface area to absorb toxins than the original pellets they had once been.

D’Sa said he was worried that human health could be threatened by people eating contaminated fish.