NEW TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN — A cargo ship wreck has left the coast off New Taipei City's Shihmen District, in Taiwan, covered in oil.
The T.S. Taipei got caught on a reef during a storm and suffered an engine failure on March 10. It was ran aground, cracks appeared and the hull began to split on March 24. The ship was completely compromised the following day. Eyewitnesses spotted layers of oil covering rocks on nearby shores shortly after.
According to "The China Post," Chief of the EPA Department of Water Quality Protection Yeh Jiunn-hung told local media that the ship not only contains 242 tons of heavy oil, but also toxic materials.
Three of the 617 containers onboard also have washed ashore. According to "The China Post," nine of the remaining containers on the ship hold highly dangerous substances, including 20 tons of potassium chlorate, 18.2 tons of toluene, 19.5 tons of lipids, 8.5 tons of corrosive cleaning agents and six tons of combustible lubricants.
Concerns also surround the nearby Jinshan nuclear power plant, which uses seawater to cool its reactors. Officials are worried that the oil could be sucked into the cooling water.
Clean up crews have installed a containment boom, a floating barrier that tries to block the oil from spreading, and are working to clean up the shore. T.S. Lines Co., the ship's parent company, said they would track the missing containers' location and notify the Maritime and Port Bureau to remind nearby fishing boats to avoid the floating containers when at sea.
If the spill isn't managed, the shipwreck could damage the ecosystem for two to three years.
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