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CARGO FROM STRICKEN SHIP OFF SOUTH AFRICA WASHES UP FAR AWAY

Agence France Presse

SAINT LUCIA, South Africa, 24 September 2002 --Containers believed to come from a stricken Italian vessel stranded off South Africa's east coast washed up on beaches hundreds of kilometres (miles) to the south, environmental officials said Tuesday. "Several containers likely to have washed overboard the Jolly Rubino were reported this morning along the Eastern Cape (province) coast," South Africa's environmental affairs ministry said in a statement. The contents of two containers were towed into the Port Elizabeth harbour some 850 kilometres (530 miles) south of the wreck and were confirmed to have been from the ship. One container washed up in Jeffrey's Bay, about 900 kilometres (560 miles) to the south and was "emanating a white gas at the moment, which could be a toxic substance or not," the statement said. The Jolly Rubino, a 190-metre long roll-on roll-off cargo ship was abandoned 25 nautical miles off the sub-tropic KwaZulu-Natal province coast two weeks ago, after a fire in its engine room forced crew to be airlifted to shore. Two days later, the 31,000 tonne ship ran aground with its cargo of deadly chemicals still ablaze near the mouth of the Greater Saint Lucia Wetland Park, a UNESCO world heritage site. Some containers, which carried chemicals such as fungicide and phenol, were destroyed in the blaze while others have been washed overboard. Authorities have warned prospective beachcombers to stay away from the containers. Efforts to pump some 800 litres of bunker oil from the Rubino to a second service ship was hampered again Tuesday by swell conditions, the statement said. The ship had been en route from South Africa to Kenya when the fire broke out

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