GIBRALTAR’S government declared a bulk carrier leaked a small amount of heavy fuel oil into the sea three days after it hit a liquefied gas tanker, reports Agence France-Presse and Deutsche Presse Agentur.
The spill’s environmental impact is not clear, although divers sent to the ship have sealed two vents in the fuel tanks that were the source of the leak.
The gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) declared the small amount of oil that escaped had gone beyond the perimeter of a boom that was put in place to contain any oil.
Companies use bulk carriers to transport solid goods such as grain.
‘The priority is to corral and collect the free-floating oil that has escaped the boom, as well as to remove the oil that has remained contained inside the boom,’ said the GPA.
Meanwhile, the authority is increasing its efforts to pump fuel oil, diesel oil, and lube oil from the vessel.
Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told Spain’s TVE broadcaster that the operation to remove 500 tonnes of the fuel from tanks on board the ship should take 50 hours using the ship’s pumps.
