Oiled Northern Rockhopper penguins on Nightingale Island (Photo: Trevor Glass, Tristan da Cunha Conservation Department)

ABOARD PRINCE ALBERT II: If you had to pick one of the most unlikely places for a ship to run aground, it would be the Tristan da Cunha island group. Tristan da Cunha is known as the most remote populated island in the world, 1,500 miles from Cape Town, South Africa, a distant speck in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, far from any shipping lanes, which is to say, it’s not on the way to anywhere. If you had to pick one of the worst places for a ship to run aground, it would be the Tristan da Cunha island group — especially Nightingale Island, which harbors one of the most spectacular and significant populations of sea birds in the world, including endangered species and birds not found anywhere else in the world, including the Northern Rockhopper Penguin. Neighboring Inaccessible Island is a World Heritage Site nine miles from Nightingale island. [Read more...]

Freighter MS Oliva aground at Nightingale Island. The ship has broken in half and oil now threatens penguins and other wildlife. All crew was rescued. (Photo by D. Guggenheim)

ABOARD PRINCE ALBERT II: On Wednesday March 16, the Prince Albert II received word that a Greek freighter, the MS Oliva, ran aground at 430am that day on the far northwest promontory of Nightingale Island, part of the Tristan group of islands. Tristan de Cunha is the most remote inhabited island in the world, more than 1,500 km from the nearest continent in South Africa. Its population is less than 300. The Oliva was enroute from Santos, Brazil to Singapore with a cargo of soya beans. The vessel is a 75,300 tonne bulk carrier (225 meters long, 32m beam) commissioned in 2009, registered in Malta. The circumstances of its grounding are still under investigation. [Read more...]