A sunken ship in Badai Bay on the southwestern end of Taiwan’s Orchid Island is leaking oil, but in small enough amounts that it is not expected to impact the environment, local scuba diving business owners who discovered the leak said Monday.

The vessel, known as the Badai Bay wreck and located off Orchid Island’s Hongtou Village, is believed to be a Korean-flagged cargo ship, which sank at the site in September 1983 en route from Japan to Singapore.

Sitting at an estimated depth of 36 meters, the wreck has since been turned into an artificial reef and become a well-known scuba diving destination.

According to local scuba business owners, divers visiting the site on Sunday noticed drops of a black, oil-like substance rising up from the stern of the ship.

The drops were escaping at a relatively slow speed and were quickly dispersed after reaching the surface, where no pollution has been observed to date, one of the business owners told reporters.

The divers who discovered the leak reported it to Taitung environmental authorities, who said that due to the vessel’s size, it had to be dealt with at the national level, and reported it to the Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA).

In a statement on Monday, the OCA said that after learning of the leak, it had immediately begun satellite monitoring of the area and conducted a simulation to identify locations where oil pollution might appear.

After examining satellite imagery dating back to Aug. 23, it was determined that there had not been any irregularities in the vicinity of the shipwreck, the OCA said, adding that it would continue to monitor the area for any signs of pollution.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel