A large cargo ship that sunk in the middle of the sea is a potential environmental catastrophe with residual oil already leaking into the water.
The ‘Angel’ ship, which was reportedly carrying over 1,349 20-foot empty containers, began sinking not too far from the Port of Kaohsiung on Taiwan‘s south-western coastline on 20th July.
A video filmed by an unnamed witness shows the ship dangerously tilting to the side after it somehow ended up with a massive hole and it began filling up with water.
Despite the crew’s best efforts to rescue it, it began going under, and the containers slowly scattered off to sea.
The Coast Guard rescued all the 19 people aboard, with one crew member being slightly injured and sent to the hospital.
Another video shows countless blue containers floating along the water’s surface.
It was reported that about 600 containers had gone adrift.
Authorities have so far managed to salvage 87 of them, local media reported.
But what many are more concerned with is a small oil leak, with about 490 tonnes of it remaining onboard posing a major eco hazard and a threat to all marine life living there.
The company operating the ship assured that the crew had closed the oil valves before abandoning the ship.
But with another typhoon threatening to hit the region, worries are increasing that the strong currents may further cause the hull to break and oil to leak.
The company has since sent out divers to seal off any holes in hopes of preventing residual oil from seeping out into the water.
After the weather improves, the company promised to pump out all the remaining liquid.
