Reuters AlertNet Lite - Ship grounded on Spanish coast stops leaking fuel

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Ship grounded on Spanish coast stops leaking fuel

31 Jan 2007 09:37:55 GMT
Source: Reuters

MADRID, Jan 31 (Reuters) - A Panamanian-flagged refrigerator ship that ran aground in a storm on the southern Spanish coast on Sunday has stopped leaking fuel and divers are assessing the damage, a coastguard spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

The 108-metre (350-foot) Sierra Nava, owned by Maritima del Norte, has dumped about 70 tonnes of fuel oil into the Bay of Algeciras near the British colony of Gibraltar.

About half that has been recovered manually by Environment Ministry workers, the ministry said, adding that no beaches had been affected. About 1 km (0.5 miles) of coast have been contaminated.

Salvage workers from Dutch firm SvitzerWijsmuller will now concentrate on pumping water out of the ship's holds, removing the rest of its fuel and refloating it, the coastguards said.

The 14 crew members, who are Spanish, Honduran and Panamanian, were rescued by helicopter on Sunday.

The ship was empty and had been anchored in the bay since Jan. 7.

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Last updated:Wed Jan 31 09:39:13 2007