Cape Town - The oil has stopped leaking from the cargo ship Kiani Satu, stranded near Knysna in the Western Cape, tourism MEC Alan Winde said on Thursday.
He said there had been a decrease in the amount of oil seen along the coastline.
“It's about 75 percent less than it was two days ago and the good news is that the oil leak has stopped.”
Winde travelled to the Southern Cape earlier in the day to watch efforts to refloat the ship.
The 168m-long bulk carrier ran aground at dawn last Thursday off Buffels Bay, forcing the captain and his 19-member crew to abandon ship. It developed mechanical problems in heavy seas while carrying 330 tons of fuel oil and 15 000 tons of rice.
The SA Maritime Safety Authority (Samsa) pumped the fuel oil from the ship's engine room to higher parts of the vessel on Thursday.
Samsa spokesman Captain Nigel Campbell said the safest way to remove more than 300 tonnes of oil from the ship was to fly it off in plastic tanks.
“Today (Thursday) we will receive a sample of the three-ton plastic tanks from the manufacturer,” he said earlier.
Sapa