Role Foundation

6am……..
It was obvious that there was no tug coming and the wreck was not secured as promised. After pleading to the authorities and wreck owner the previous day, to lets us secure the ship with ropes and anchors, before the rising swell, we were told/warned to leave it alone. They would take care of everything.We were reminded that this was a crime seen. (It surely was a crime seen. An environmental crime seen, and we could do nothing but wait for the ship to break up and clean up the mess. There were after all other forces at play here)
Meet Chris Moore and Ulu’s Johnny at Padang2. The wreck had been pushed side ways 30 meters out of the take off zone and as the tide came in the wreck was slowly being pushed in and over the reef. There was oil everywhere in the line up and the swell was rising fast. By 10-11am, as the tide peaked, the wreck had been pushed in as she was going. With the swell rising something must be done to stop the oil.
10am……Met with the owners and the Taiwan Police on the cliff top above the wreck. I was pretty obvious, it was all over for the salvage of the ship. The owner was a pasty white color.

11 am Clean up planning meeting for low tide.
Ulu’s Johnny, Tim Russo, Chris Moore, Clemens Berger and Mike O’Leary.
It was agreed that we would try to clean up the oil out of the wreck and surrounding areas with a limits work force before calling in mass amounts of people the following high tide. Too many people would only get in the way, as we were not sure of the conditions and the logistics of disposing of the oil properly. Steve Palmer called and offered his staff to help. that would be just the right amount of people for now.

After calling around all modern clean up equipment and dispersement etc are not available.
Tim Russo said he would to manufacture fabric scoop filters out of porous materials. Chris organised 2 pumps , 3 x 44 gallon oil drums, 10 buckets, 20 jerry cans and scrubbing brushes.
It was agreed we would do the clean up via the back beach track and take the oil and crap out that way, so we would keep the mess away from Padang Padang beach. Padang2 Beach was still fairly clean. The main mess had gone south down Ulu’s way. At 1pm Chris and I did a reccy of the planned extraction route from the wreck. It was planned to store the oil in drums behind the Padang Back Beach, then take in up the cliff/hill as a second stage. Getting the oil up the hill would be a major physical event. A sludge truck would be found to take it away to an appropriate dump site. We checked the wreck. There was at least 4 meter break along her lower side. It was hard to see, as the tide was still dropping.

2pm we all met. Tim Russo’s fabric filters arrived etc., and Role’s pumps, drums and buckets etc., equipment arrived. Role’s 5 staff arrived and Steve Palmer’s 10 staff arrived. Chris and Tim organized all equipment and staff to be moved down to the wreck with the drums placed behind the back beach.

3pm
The smell was horrific. A sludge and dead sea life mix.
Johnny and Chris boarded the wreck to discover that most of the 2-3 meters of sludge had drained out and emptied onto the reef, rocks and surrounding ocean.
The ships concrete balis had been ripped off the bottom and there were broken blocks all over the reef.
There was still plenty of oil around the engine and in trapped compartments.
It was agreed that Chris would manage the clean up of the inside of the wreck and Tim the reef and rocks.
Johnny would go into town and meet the authorities and see what extra help he could get from them.

3.30pm Wreck clean up……It was too shallow andthe areas to difficult to use the pumps, so Chris with Steve Palmer’s staff had to use buckets on ropes, bring in up in the dark to the top of the engine room, pour it in to jerry cans and carry it along the deck and pass in down. The the Role staff carried these jerry can the 100 meters to the back of the beach and poured it into the 44 gallon drums.
Reef cleanup…………..Tim used his fabric filters and buckets in the concentrated oil pools, poured it into jerry cans and the Role staff carried it off.
There were plenty of dead or dieing sea life around. Crayfish, crabs, small fish, sea slugs etc..

6pm ……………..Staff started to get very tired, and all had cuts somewhere over their bodies. The wreck and reef was extremely slippery and toxic. There were no major injuries, so we decided to call it a day. We cleaned up all the equipment, and head up the cliff.
BIG THANK YOU TO MY AND STEVE PALMER.S STAFF. THESE GUYS CAN and DID WORK SO HARD. Big thank you to Chris and Tim. Tim’s fabric filter is a winner and he tried so hard with the clean up.

Next challenge……………SCRUB and WASH the REEF and ROCKS day Sunday low tide 4 pm. ???????

Best………Mike

(Also please donate if you can, you will always get value for money from us and so will the needy. That I guarantee. We have very positive and proactive programs).

Mike O’Leary
International CEO and Founder
R.O.L.E. Foundation Inc
Help play a role……
in creating a world without poverty
and reviving the health of the environment.