Leading wildlife organisations BirdLife South Africa and SANCCOB have condemned new ship-to-ship fuel transfer regulations as inadequate to protect the critically endangered African penguin.
Minister Dion George signed the controversial ship-to-ship Transfer Regulations aboard the SA Agulhas II research vessel on 22 August, but conservationists warn that the rules contain fatal flaws which could accelerate the African Penguin’s slide towards extinction.
The regulations govern offshore bunkering, the practice of refuelling ships at sea rather than in harbour, currently permitted only in Algoa Bay.
Whilst the activity saves time and costs for shipping companies, conservation groups argue that it poses devastating risks to marine ecosystems through oil spills and underwater noise pollution.
“The correlation between increased vessel traffic noise and the dramatic decline in penguin numbers is undeniable,” said Dr Alistair McInnes, Seabird Conservation Programme Manager at BirdLife South Africa. “The Algoa Bay closure will be meaningless unless the negative consequences of bunkering are avoided.”
What is most concerning to conservationists is that Algoa Bay, the only area where bunkering currently occurs, is exempt from several protective prohibitions specifically designed to safeguard sensitive sites.
St Croix Island, once home to South Africa’s largest African Penguin colony with nearly 8,000 breeding pairs in 2015 now only has 700 pairs.
According to conservationists this 91 per cent decline coincided with the introduction of bunkering operations in 2016.
The regulations permit night-time operations despite heightened spill risks and difficulties in detecting marine life in darkness. Oil spill response teams are unable to detect or begin clean-up during night-time hours, potentially allowing environmental damage to spread unchecked.
Nicky Stander, Head of Conservation at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) emphasised the cumulative impact.
“It is not only the ships actively involved in bunkering but also vessels stationed in the anchorage areas as they wait for fuel and move in and out of these zones, that will contribute to pressures to the African penguin colony on St Croix.”
Since bunkering began, four oil spills in Algoa Bay were allegedly attributed to the operations, resulting in hundreds of oiled penguins and seabirds.
Conservation groups argue that the government should exercise emergency powers under environmental legislation to ban bunkering entirely.
“With fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs remaining globally, every regulatory decision could determine whether this iconic species survives or joins the growing list of African wildlife extinctions.”
