Ibama identifies oil slick near vessel stranded off Maranhão coast

An oil slick just over a mile in diameter was spotted on the morning of February 28, near the cargo vessel that ran aground about 100 kilometers off the Brazilian coast, in the São Marcos Bay channel in Maranhão.  It was carrying around 275,000 tons of iron ore belonging to Vale.

According to the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), the oil slick was identified by an aircraft equipped with special sensors that flew over the area that morning. The day before, when flying over the site for the first time, Ibama technicians had not noticed the presence of pollutants in the vicinity of the ship. Two more aerial inspections are scheduled.

In addition to nearly 300,000 tons of iron ore, the MV Stella Banner is capable of transporting up to 4 million liters of fuel and oil, although the volume being carried by the vessel at the time of the incident has not been officially confirmed. The ship left the Ponta da Madeira Maritime Terminal in São Luís, and was headed for China.

According to Ibama, it was the commander of the Stella Banner himself who maneuvered it on purpose onto a sandbar in a shallow area of ​​the São Marcos Bay channel. The maneuver served to prevent the vessel from sinking or drifting after the commander found that seawater was entering the vessel through a crack in the bow. The incident occurred on February 24. The 20 crew members were safely removed from the ship.

At Vale’s request, Petrobras has already deployed appropriate vessels to collect the oil. In addition, special buoys will be preventively spread around the ship to try to prevent fuel from being dispersed. Experts hired by Polaris Shipping, owner of the vessel, informed Ibama that the ship’s tanks are intact and the power generation engines are working normally. “As a port operator, Vale reinforces that it will continue to act in the case with full technical-operational support and active collaboration with the maritime authorities”, guaranteed the mining company.

Source: Agência Brasil

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