The Port Authority of Gibraltar has confirmed this Thursday the existence of a "significant" leak of heavy fuel oil in the bulk carrier
OS35
, stranded on the coast east of Gibraltar after colliding last Monday with another ship.
As explained by the Government of Gibraltar in a statement, a quantity of said spill has escaped the perimeter of the first containment barrier.
"Although this is a significant leak, the consistency of the low-sulfur fuel oil is lighter than in other incidents in the Bay, which means it should be easier to dissipate and clean up if any of it does wash up on our shores."
Until this Thursday, Gibraltar had only confirmed the leak of lubricating oil, but not fuel oil, a type of heavy and polluting fuel for ships, less refined than the diesel used by cars.
The stain, size not yet determined,
The captain of the bulk carrier was arrested after noon this morning, sources familiar with the investigation have confirmed to EL PAÍS.
The chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, had already indicated hours before that the police of the Rock had opened an investigation against the captain, after he did not heed the indications of the maritime captain of the port after the accident.
“He disobeyed orders and the ship left port.
The captain of the port has to ask him many questions about why”, Picardo declared in an intervention in
La Hora de la 1
, on TVE.
00:59
Image of the fuel leak off the coast of Gibraltar
The device deployed around the bulk carrier 'OS 35', the ship that collided on Monday night in the Bay of Algeciras. Photo: A. Carrasco Ragel (EFE) |
Video: EPV
The first investigations by the Gibraltarian police indicate that the ship, after ignoring the instructions, entered the Strait, until it discovered that the leak prevented it from continuing its route to the port of Vlissingen (Netherlands), towards where he was traveling with a shipment of steel bars.
That is when the Captaincy of Gibraltar proceeded to check the status of the bulk carrier and made it go towards the Catalan Bay (Catalan Bay, in English) so that the ship could enter a shallower sandy surface and avoid its total sinking. .
Finally, the ship was stranded in a controlled manner 700 meters from this natural bay and 2.2 kilometers from the beaches of La Línea.
The bulk carrier was loaded with 215 tons of heavy fuel oil (32 tons more than what was initially declared), 250 tons of diesel and 27 tons of lubricating oil at the time of the accident, all for self-consumption, according to sources from the Rock.
The situation of the merchant ship was complicated during the afternoon of last Wednesday when the hull buckled in the central part to the point that, at first, the rescuers believed that it had broken in two, a fact that has ended up being ruled out.
The rescue team on board has identified the source of Thursday's fuel leak in two fuel tank vents that had been previously sealed, but loosened when the tank collapsed when the hull gave way.
The divers deployed in the area have been able to restore the seals, for which the Gibraltar Port Authority has assured that it is "in the process of stopping" the release of liquid.
The Gibraltar Port Authority launch and the Spanish Maritime Rescue vessel
Luz de Mar
have deployed J-shaped barriers to contain the drifting fuel oil.
To this have been added two other ships that have come with barriers to help in the tasks of braking and collecting debris.
In addition, a skimmer
has been deployed
(a device for the mechanical collection of a hydrocarbon spill that works like a mixer that sucks up the stain) that is being removed with the fuel that has escaped from the ship.
However, in a video broadcast by Agaden Campo de Gibraltar, a large stain can be seen escaping from up to two containments.
Franco has confirmed during the afternoon that this discharge has turned around the Rock and has headed towards the Bay of Algeciras (on the opposite side where the semi-sunken ship is located).
But sources close to the case of Spain have explained that the clip corresponds to light fuel leaks, produced during the morning, which cause spots of great visual size but of little depth.
In addition, Gibraltar has pointed out tonight that there are three levels of containment and that more than half of the fuel oil leaks have already been collected.
A sludge barge located right next to
OS35
It is the one in charge of pumping the fuel from inside the tanks, in some tasks that have begun in the early afternoon.
The fuel is divided into three tanks between the bow and the stern (one forward and two behind).
The first of them is the one that is in a more delicate situation, since it is in the semi-sunken and damaged part of the ship.
The extraction of the fuel consists of pumping the fuel from that damaged tank to the two rear ones that are in better condition, as explained by Picardo.
"The latest indications at the time of publication of this statement report that 53 cubic meters of diesel have already been pumped from the ship, approximately a fifth of the cargo," says the latest report from the Gibraltarian Executive.
The semi-sunken bulk carrier off Catalan Bay, near the Gibraltarian coast, this Thursday. David Martínez (REUTERS)
General view of the semi-sunken bulk carrier that is dumping oil and fuel oil off the coast of Gibraltar, this Thursday. Marcos Moreno
View of the freighter OS 35 that remains half sunk after its collision with a ship off GibraltarJON NAZCA (REUTERS)
The device deployed around the bulk carrier 'OS 35', the ship that collided on Monday night in the Bay of Algeciras and remains stranded off the east side of Gibraltar, has begun pumping work this afternoon to extract the fuel of the wrecked ship. Marcos Moreno
Rescue teams continue to evaluate and plan the way forward to extract the fuel from the bulk carrier, this Thursday. nono rico (Europa Press)
Aerial view of the semi-sunken bulk carrier that is dumping oil and fuel oil off the coast of Gibraltar this Thursday.Government of Gibraltar
Aerial view of the semi-sunken bulk carrier that is dumping oil and fuel oil off the coast of Gibraltar this Thursday.Government of Gibraltar
The
OS 35 —
flagged in Tuvalu — was leaving for Vlissingen (Netherlands) loaded with steel bars during the night of last Monday when, at 10:10 p.m., it collided with the
Adam LNG,
which was anchored in the western anchorage of the port of Gibraltar.
The
The ship is operated by Old Stone Management Ltd., a company managed from the port of Piraeus in Greece.
The ship's insurance company, QBE Europe SA/NV, has decided to appoint Gibraltar-based Resolve Marine Services to handle the ship's salvage services.
Concerned about the possible future of the spill, the mayor of La Línea has assured that he has ordered "the legal services of the town hall to study the possible legal and civil measures" against those responsible for the accident.
“We are struck by the fact that he has stayed here, in a special conservation area,” he denounced at the foot of the Levante de La Línea beach, right next to the border fence with Gibraltar.
The councilor has recalled the danger that the spill can have for the more than 200 families of fishermen in the area, for the beach bars, nautical companies and "for the image of the city".
The spirits did not walk this Thursday to admire the landscape, on the other side of the border, in Gibraltar.
"This is a catastrophe that you cannot see," Antonio Rodríguez summed up sadly, leaning out from a viewpoint of Catalan Bay.
Julia and her husband, keen bird watchers, have watched the scene from the Gibraltar coast with binoculars, visibly worried.
“Luckily the sea is calm, because this is with a storm…”, the woman manages to say.
Dozens of onlookers have come and gone with their cars and motorcycles.
The Spaniards Alejandro Pérez and Marina Obispo have taken advantage of the fact that he had to go to the hospital in Gibraltar to check an injury to get closer with his two daughters to see what has happened.
They have done it almost as an attraction for the little ones, sure that the damage will not go further.
“I'm not too worried.
They'll fix it."
he says.
Bishop goes further: “If these people have something [for Gibraltar] it is money, and that fixes everything”.