The Turkish vessel, the Seli 1 that stranded at Blouberg Strand on Monday evening has not been salvaged but a possible cleanup operation is expected to run into millions of rands.

An oil spill holds great disadvantages to the Table Bay area which is home to thousands of seabirds, Sanccob (SA National Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) CEO, Vanessa Strauss said earlier.

If the 2000 sinking of the Treasure at Table Bay is anything to go by, government could stare a hefty cleanup amount in the face. The Treasure's insurance only managed to cover half of the R51-million required leaving local authorities to dig deep into their pockets.

Strauss however added that no spill of the 600 tons of oil and 60 tons of fuel has been reported as yet but they are on standby for the worst possible scenario.

Divers for Cape Town's disaster risk management have confirmed that the craft sustained structural damage when it hit a solid object. With the hull cracked, water is streaming into the engine room.

The costs of such an oil spill cleanup operation can be very costly. But what will cost so much money?

• Securing of the vessel, plugging of oil leaks;
• Recovery of the oil on board;
• Recovery of oil on the water using another vessel;
• Over flights by a helicopter;
• Removal and disposal of oil from beaches;
• Steam cleaning of contaminated rocks;
• Collection, transport and treatment of possible oil-covered penguins and or birds

Strauss concluded that they are keeping a close eye on the situation and that they will meet shortly to discuss the situation.