After the fall of the Italian cargo ship “Grande America” in the Gulf of Biscay by the French authorities to fight against a threat of oil Pollution on the beaches of the Atlantic coast. Two days after the accident, a second Oil slick was discovered.
The second Oil slick was nine kilometres long and seven kilometres wide, said a spokesman for the marine Prefecture on Thursday at a media conference with Minister of the environment, François de Rugy in Brest.
The Oil slick was discovered about 20 kilometres away from a first, and its extent indicates the Prefecture with 13 kilometres in length and seven kilometres wide. The new film of Oil is less dense than the first, said the spokesman.
authorities fear an oil Spill is to the popular beaches of the Atlantic coast a few weeks before the Easter holidays. De Rugy told the TV channel BFM-TV that authorities would do everything possible “to reduce the extent of the pollution in our coasts”. According to the words of the Minister for the environment, no oil Spill after the sinking of the oil tanker “Erika” off the Brittany coast in 1999, but risks.
2200 tons of heavy fuel oil
The “Grande America” was dropped on Tuesday after a fire, a good 330 kilometre off the French West coast. The cargo ship was loaded according to the authorities, approximately 2200 tons of heavy fuel oil, the sinking of the “Erika” in 1999, around 17’000 tons of Oil had spilled into the sea, so, almost eight times as much.
Two reconnaissance aircraft were used to observe the spread of Oil in the sea. A special ship against environmental pollution has already reached the disaster area, with more to follow. If weather conditions permit, is to be pumped, a portion of the spilled Oil on the sea. In addition, swimming could be the end of barriers to the use of, the dirt from the coast.
According to de Rugy, a underwater robot could be used. The wreck of the freighter is located in about 4,500 meters deep. For divers, it is out of reach for them.
45 Container with a “hazardous material”
According to the sea, the prefect Jean-Louis Lozier France asked the European Maritime safety Agency (EMSA) to support. The “Grande America”, was charged according to information from the sea, the Prefecture of 45 containers with “dangerous goods” and 2200 tons of Oil. What type of dangerous goods is not explained Lozier.
Greenpeace called the wreck of the freighter “tragic” and called for a renunciation of energy, such as oil. The environmental organisation Robin des Bois (Robin Wood) checks for a lawsuit due to ocean pollution. The ship of the Italian Grimaldi group had a loading of 2000 vehicles. It was a “toxic mass into a area that was very mammals, rich in fish, Plankton and sea,” said Robin des Bois.
the leading candidate of The French Greens for the European elections, Yannick Jadot, called for stricter EU rules for shipowners and better controls in European ports. The Grimaldi group had been warned according to the French sea Prefecture from potential environmental hazards by the load.
The “Grande America” was broke on the way from the port of Hamburg to Casablanca in Morocco on Sunday evening to a fire on Board. All 27 crew members were rescued. Overall, the ship had, according to the Prefecture of 365 containers on Board. (Dec/sda)
Created: 14.03.2019, 19:04 PM
