ECUADOR: NATIONAL EMERGENCY IS DECLARED IN THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS AFTER OIL SPILL THREATENS SOME OF THE WORLD'S RAREST SEA ANIMALS AND BIRDS
Record ID:
647957
ECUADOR: NATIONAL EMERGENCY IS DECLARED IN THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS AFTER OIL SPILL THREATENS SOME OF THE WORLD'S RAREST SEA ANIMALS AND BIRDS
- Title: ECUADOR: NATIONAL EMERGENCY IS DECLARED IN THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS AFTER OIL SPILL THREATENS SOME OF THE WORLD'S RAREST SEA ANIMALS AND BIRDS
- Date: 17th January 2001
- Summary: GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR (JANUARY 22, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/PAN SHIP "JESSICA" ON SIDE IN WATER (2 SHOTS) 0.25 2. SLV/TILT UP CLEAN-UP WORKERS CLIMBING ON BOARD (2 SHOTS) 0.34 3. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ECUADOREAN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER, RODOLFO RENDON, SAYING: "The situation of the ship is very critical, it is at an angle of 45-degrees and it still has approximately 15,000 gallons of oil, between and 15,000 and 20,000 gallons." 0.51 4. ZOOM OUT CLEAN UP CREWS ON TOP OF SHIP 0.59 5. CU OIL IN WATER 1.05 6. MV CLEAN UP WORKERS REMOVING OIL DRUMS 1.10 7. CU OIL DRUMS 1.15 8. CU PELICAN ON ROCKS 1.19 9. SCU CRABS ON ROCKS 1.23 GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR (JANUARY 17, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 10. GV/WS SHIP AFTER ACCIDENT (3 SHOTS) 1.45 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 1st February 2001 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR
- Country: Ecuador
- Reuters ID: LVA6JMQR4EO2L0E70JFE9TSD01XP
- Story Text: Ecuador has declared a national emergency in the
Galapagos Islands after an oil spill just a half-mile (0.8 km)
from the shore floated toward the western most islands,
threatening some of the world's rarest sea animals and birds.
The Galapagos Islands, 600 miles (1,000 km) west of
Ecuador's coast in the Pacific Ocean, are home to hundreds of
native species -- including giant tortoises and iguanas --
that evolved over thousands of years.
The spill started on Friday (January 19), when a pipe
burst in the machine room of the Ecuadorean-registered boat
Jessica, which had ran aground three days before on an
embankment near Galapagos' capital and principal port, Puerto
Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal Island.
It grew worse over the weekend, when tanks carrying
240,000 gallons (912,000 litres) of diesel and bunker fuel --
a heavy fuel used to power some tour boats operating in the
islands -- leaked 144,000 gallons (547,200 litres) of oil into
ocean waters shared by tropical fish, pelicans and sea lions.
The Jessica, 211 feet (65 metres) long and weighing 835
tonnes, was on its way to service a private tour boat operator
and Petrocomercial, an arm of the state oil company that
provides the islands with fuel.
While the accident is far smaller than the Exxon Valdez
supertanker's 1989 spill of 11 million gallons (41.6 million
litres) of oil in Alaskan seas, the unique ecological makeup
of the Galapagos and the spill's closeness to its shores have
sparked outcries from environmental organizations worldwide.
The stain over the clear blue Pacific waters had an
overall area of 390 square miles (1,000 square km) late on
Sunday (January 21). It is now moving westward toward Santa
Cruz Island but growing thinner as it travels, posing less of
a threat. Authorities hoped the oil would be dispersed in 48
to 72 hours.
According to the Galapagos National Park, 30 pelicans,
four sea lions and seven boobies have been affected by the
spill. One Franklin sea gull died.
The long-lasting impact of the spill remained unclear,
though local environmental watchdog the Nature Foundation said
it would have "irreparable" consequences.
The World Wide Fund for Nature, a global conservation
body, called for limits to shipping off the Galapagos, which
British naturalist Charles Darwin visited in 1835 while
developing his theories of national selection.
In 1999, about 66,000 tourists visited the islands, about
81 percent of them foreign.
A 10-member U.S. Coast Guard mission arrived late on
Sunday to work with Ecuadorean authorities to drain the
remaining 30,000 gallons (114,000 litres) of fuel from the
boat, which is tipping into the water. Once the fuel is
removed and the threat of more spillage averted, the team will
work to contain the oil already in the waters and then to
rescue the Jessica, Vega said.
Ecuadorean authorities have applied 3,000 gallons (11,400
litres) of chemical dispersants and 1,000 gallons (3,800
litres) of absorbents and put up a fence to try to keep the
toxic substances from reaching nearby Santa Fe Island.
The mission will cost the economically battered Ecuadorean
government about $500,000. Guayaquil-based shipping company
Acotramar, which owns the Jessica, will be held responsible
for the costs, though the boat lacks spill insurance.
According to Ecuador's Merchant Marine, boats carrying
less than 2,000 tonnes of hydrocarbons are not required by law
to have an insurance policy to cover spills.
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