The neverending story of the Ho Tsai Fa 18
Remember that Taiwanese longliner (the one we confronted in the Pacific Commons) that washed up in Bali under suspicious circumstances a few weeks ago? Well it's still stuck on the reef only now there's a lot less of it after it was consumed in flames yesterday.
Unfortunately, oil did leak from the vessel and efforts to remove the Ho Tsai Fa 18, by towing it with other vessels at high tide, have failed.
The boat burned all Tuesday night until lunchtime on Wednesday, when the tide rose high enough to extinguish the flames, said a spokesman for ROLE Foundation, which runs marine projects in the area and has been working with authorities over the last month to salvage the vessel....
Mystery surrounds the 50-tonne fibreglass vessel amid allegations of mutiny and murder. Its Taiwanese captain is missing, presumed dead, and Taiwan sought the help of Indonesian police to search for the Indonesian crew members who fled when it ran aground. However, their investigation stalled with no body, no witnesses and a crime scene compromised by looters who took fish, fuel and equipment.
...
ROLE chairman Chris Moore, a shipbuilder by trade, said that when he heard it had been set alight he had just obtained permission from the ship owner's insurer in Taiwan to allow scrap merchants to take it apart piece-by-piece.
"We are a bit distraught," Moore said.
"Somebody decided the best way to deal with it was to torch it.
"It's an easy way of doing it, but not a very environmentally friendly way of doing it.
...
"There's petrol spilt in the ocean again and there's a big heap of black smouldering fibreglass mess in the lower half of the hull, which could be dragged across the reef," he said.
Follow Greenpeace »
Post a comment