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Kevin revisited the site of an oil spill clean-up he was involved in 15 years ago after the tanker Katina P ran aground north of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique in East Africa. The vessel finally broke apart under tow and a total of 72,000 tonnes of heavy oil was lost during the incident, contaminating a large stretch of coastline in the Bay of Maputo.
Kevin re-lived the journey on the ferry to Catembe, one that he made for most of the three weeks he spent assisting with the response. Over 500 people were engaged in a manual clean-up operation of the heavily contaminated beach in 1992.
Another site visited was the beach at Costa do Sol, one of Maputo’s favourite hang-out places, especially busy on a Sunday afternoon. The beach is overlooked by the Costa do Sol Seafood Restaurant, boasting some of the best seafood in the region. Kevin recalls enjoying fresh prawns then and is happy to report that they are just as delicious today.
The clean-up at Costa do Sol, 1992 |
A clean Catembe Beach in 2007
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Kevin was in Maputo with John Ostergaard representing the International Maritime Organization (IMO), leading a workshop for the development of the Mozambique National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. The workshop brought together a multi-agency group to continue the work to finalise the current draft plan to ensure that the country is prepared for an incident in the future.
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