SHIPWRECK RESCUE DRAMA

Monday 10.09.01 @ 10h30. Battered throughout sunday night night by gale force winds and large swells, the Ikan Tanda continues to withstand the storm's onslaught, but the transfer of fuel today is now impossible.

Monday 10.09.01 @ 11h00. Some of the larger sets crashing over the stricken ship. We have set up a forum for readers to express views and opinions on any aspect of this shipwreck. Click here to have your say!

Monday 10.09.01 @ 11h00. The seas are starting to boil again as another front moves in from the north-west. Click here to voice your opinion right now on our E-Gnu.com Shipwreck Forum.

RESIDENTS MEETING SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY 11.09.2001 @ 18h00

Here is the transcript of an e-mail being distributed around Scarborough today:

"The three interest groups in Scarborough, namely the SRRA, SCG and MEET has requested an information sharing meeting with Department of Environmental Affairs, Disaster Management and Pentow Marine to clarify isssues of concern so that the residents can be brought up to date with the correct information.

Clare Du Plooy,commuication officer of Pentow Marine has confirmed that the meeting will take place at 6.00pm tomorrow ( Tuesday 11 September 2001) at the Scarborough Community Centre.Dr. Lyn Jackson from the Department of Environmental Affairs will also be present to answer questions on the Potassium Nitrate issue. Mr. Len Labuschage,South Peninsula Disaster Manager will also be present.

The meeting is for Scarborough Residents only and not open to the press/media.

Please forward this email to other Scarborough Residents and spread the word.

For further details please contact:
Janis Corr Marine Environmental Education Trust 780 1353
Elze Olivier - Chairperson of the SRRA 083 357 4747
Ivan Groenhof - Scarborough Conservation Group 780 1500

Marine life, conservation and ecology of the Scarborough shoreline.

The shoreline of the southern Cape Peninsula is home to a myriad and diverse collection of marine life, with the area south of Scarborough being a marine sanctuary and part of the Cape Point Reserve. Scarborough itself is a conservation village, and the local populace is generally highly oriented to conservation and the ecology.

The seas around here are home to the west coast crayfish (lobster), black and white mussel beds, perlemoen (abalone) and the breeding and calving ground of the southern right whale, some of which have been spotted this week within 100 metres of the grounded ship. The massive kelp beds produce and sustain life and are the habitat of rock lobsters, while the inter-tidal zone supports a rich array of molluscs and other semi-aquatic marine life. The Cape clawless otter is a resident of both the wetlands and the ocean, while birdlife is prolific in the region, including the endangered African Black Oystercatcher - the second most endangered bird in South Africa. Even some of the resident baboons rely on molluscs for their diet - the troop at Cape Point being famous for regarding the black mussel as a delicacy.

So what will happen if the potassium nitrate on board is released into the ocean, as the salvors apparently intend to do? Research into this indicates that high levels of any nitrate in sea water will produce red tide, the toxic algae which affects molluscs and depletes oxygen levels so severely that crayfish will "walk" out the water to escape these conditions. Catastrophic red tides are known as black tides, which can have a devastating impact on marine life, when just about everything will die. Naturally, humans who ingest mussels infected with red tide become severely ill and can die from respiratory or liver collapse.

To date, neither the owners of the Ikan Tanda, the salvors, the South African government or the local authorities, have communicated or give any substantial indication to local residents of their intentions or plan of action with regard to the potassium nitrate on board the grounded vessel. Without wishing to draw any conclusions, you may wish to view some of the links below which provide scientific or analytical uses and details on potassium nitrate.

Vicksburg Chemical Company (USA) Material & Safety Data Sheet

Today nitrogen-based fertilizers help feed billions of people, but they are also poisoning ecosystems, destroying fisheries, and sickening and killing children throughout the world. In ensuring our supply of food, they are wreaking havoc on our water and air

Handling hazardous waste shipboard

If any readers are able to add to this debate, please mail mike@e-gnu.com.

OR CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR SHIPWRECK FORUM

FEEDBACK

Thanks to those who have mailed us about our coverage of these events. Here are a few of our reader's comments:

Hi there Mike, Thank you for keeping us so well informed - most important is your objective reporting and the pics are fabulous. Glynn Katzin West Beach

Well done on the excellent ship coverage. It does seem that 'they' are making frustratingly slow progress considering how bad things could get if it went wrong? I'm optimistic that there won't be a spill, as the ship seems pretty solidly stuck. I haven't read the material on the fertiliser yet, but that sounds like a bad idea to dump it? Matthew Swart, Scarborough

You are doing a fantastic job!! I no longer need to brave the foul weather and wander down to the beach to see what is happening - I simply need to go into the e-gnu.com site - thank you so much. I have mailed the address to family and friends abroad so that they can keep up with what's happening via your excellent photo's and script, instead of me having to do same. Keep up the brilliant coverage!! Regards Tracy Middlebrook Scarborough

Very impressed your coverage, thanks Gnu for immediate website pictures. No news on English tv, so noone aware of drama off your coast. Sorry about onlookers, hope coast recovers, been there, beautiful. Living it all with you and fingers crossed for minimal damage, weather permitting. Thanks - Shelagh and Malcolm, Gt Missenden, England

Hi Mike. I would like to thank you for your wonderful effort to keep this saga "live" on the internet. My family and I have access to a family home in Seagull Road and have spent 1000's of hours in Scarborough, mostly on the beach. We are now living in the UK and really miss the place. Having heard about the shipwreck, I found your site (via iafrica) and have spent many hours keeping up as the drama unfolds. Keep up the good work. Regards Colin and family.

Hi Mike We are ex-'Scarbie' residents - our thought and prayers are with you all in this devastation. Thanks for the wonderful website please keep it updated. Regards Craig Adams FUTURISTIX (PTY) LTD Western/Northern Cape Regional Manager

Hi Thanks for keeping us up to date about the ship, I'm in Sydney Australia but have a home in Noordhoek and am watching the drama with frustration at 1) the amount of ships that run aground on our shores seemingly without any action to prevent a recurrence and 2) the people who should know better and rush down to the site to block the way for the emergency crews, shame on you! Antony Day Mosman Sydney

Dear Editor Hi, excellent work "well done", thanks for the minute to minute up-date on the shipwreck and being so professional about it on the net, keep up the excellent work and lets hope that there will be no more damage done to the coast line, from ex Cape surfer Louis Lincow, Argentina, South America

"Well done on your report of this disaster, you really have shown the usefulness of the internet to inform. Keep up the good work" - Tony Murray, Dublin Ireland

"Hi, and well done on keeping us informed. I'm in Noordhoek and instead of braving the crowds I am logging on every couple of hours to your site to check what's happening. I found the link to gnu on wavescape.co.za. Here's hoping no further pollution takes place"
- Stephen Cruickshank Photographer, Noordhoek Cape Town

"Hi guys thanks for this morning's update on the shipwreck holding thumbs together with helmut, raji, brendon, antoinette & gary that things will turn out for the best - greetings from london-town" - karin & stefan, London UK

"hey... super photies on e-gnu" - Rajhev Rajkumar, London UK

Comments or suggestions about our coverage of the events surrounding this shipwreck can be mailed to info@e-gnu.com.