Rough seas hinder Galapagos mission

By JAN McGIRK

A vast wave has slammed into a grounded oil tanker off Ecuador, rupturing the ship's hulk and increasing the threat to rare wildlife on the Galapagos islands by releasing a further 90,000 litres of diesel and heavy fuel into the sea.

Several crewmen were injured as they attempted to right the tanker, which ran into a reef nine days ago.

Ecuadorian officials said earlier that the threat from the spill had been reduced by high winds and currents that were shifting the oil slick away from islands.

Last night the ship's captain, Tarquino Arevalo, and his 13 crew were arrested. The authorities said they faced charges of negligence and crimes against the environment. If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to four years.

The collision yesterday released the 90,000 litres of diesel that had not spilt or been removed from the tanker, half a mile from the harbour of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

Before that, recovery teams had salvaged about 295,000 litres of diesel and heavy bunker fuel from the 30-year-old vessel, the Jessica.

US Coast Guard advisers warned that the tanker could break up at any time, and said the oily film from the fuel covered about 1,255 square kms of sea, an area the size of Greater Los Angeles.

Much of the fuel had been evaporating as it dispersed but yesterday 35 boats clustered around inflatable barriers to help remove oil using hand-held containers.

Marine biologists warned that heavy bunker fuel was likely to sink to the seabed and poison algae and plankton on which many creatures feed.

They also said chemical solvents being used in the clean-up operation were almost as hazardous as the fuel itself.

Marine iguana, sharks, turtles, pelicans and other birds that eat fish, are among the species threatened by the toxins.

Dead mullet, sea urchin and kelp were washing ashore on the Galapagos island of San Cristobal yesterday, where residents and tourists were being advised not to eat fish.

The black tide has also reached Santa Fe island, home to rare iguana, and beaches on Santa Cruz and San Cristobal, where there are big colonies of seals.

National park officials said seals could be blinded by diesel and stomach ulcers would result from seals licking oil-smeared fur off their pups.

Training sessions for volunteers to clean pelicans, gulls and seals are under way.

Environmentalists estimated that it could take two weeks to assess the harm caused by the spill.

Ecuador's Environment Minister, Rodolfo Rendon, declared a state of emergency yesterday over the archipelago where Charles Darwin first observed natural selection.

The minister said: "We have a very, very grave environmental problem" but added: "It's a problem, not a tragedy."

His assessment may now need to be revised. Mr Rendon said Ecuador would spend $US2 million ($ 4.53 million) to deal with the spillage, and predicted that the cost would quadruple before it was complete. He also appealed for international aid.

But critics of President Gustavo Noboa's government said earlier salvage work would have prevented bunker fuel and diesel from leaking into the pristine seas.

One diplomat said: "The Ecuadorean government needs to be asking itself hard-nosed questions about its handling of the situation; the EU and the US will be putting that message strongly."

Carl Safina, a marine conservation officer for the National Audubon Society, said: "One of the reasons that the Galapagos are so important is that they serve as a reference point for what undemolished nature looks like, and we need to preserve that."

- HERALD CORRESPONDENT