Bulker accused of dumping oil into sea off Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands government has accused a bulk carrier’s crew of deliberately dumping heavy fuel oil into the waters around Santa Cruz island.
Government authorities in the Solomon Islands have accused the crew of the bulk carrier, MV Quebec, of illegally dumping 1,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil into Graciosa Bay in Temotu Province, reports the Guardian.
The Panama-flagged Quebec is in the Solomon Islands carrying a lumber shipment and is accused of the dumping the oil in late January. Temotu’s premier, Clay Forau, said he believes ships regularly pollute Solomon Island waters and told the Guardian, “It’s obvious these ships go around breaking our laws on sea pollution all the time… The only difference is they got caught this time.”
Forau said the provincial government was investigating two cases, including the MV Tremax which is still leaking oil after running aground seven years ago. “We want it removed immediately, the owners of the ship should be held responsible,” he said.
Thierry Nervale, director of the Solomon Island’s Maritime Authority, told state media that an initial assessment of the MV Quebec spill indicated that about 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil had been discharged and the government would pursue the vessel’s owners in the courts. He said the master of the ship would be charged in accordance with Solomon Islands law and added, “For us, it is clear that this is deliberate pollution of our seas. It’s not accidental”.
The Quebec was built in 1991 in Japan and has sailed under a variety of names, but publicly available shipping data lists its current owners as Greatsources Shipping Company in Hong Kong. Nervale said the spill is contained within one kilometre but had polluted the beach and officials are conducting a clean-up.
A similar maritime disaster affected the islands in 2019, when the MV Solomon Trader ran aground off Rennell Island, damaging an ecologically sensitive reef. Nervale added: “In the national plan we have three levels of pollution, the oil spill disaster in Rennell is at level three and the MV Quebec oil spill is confirmed to be at level two. This allows us to manage it internally, we don’t need assistance from the region or the international community.”
