• After colliding with a gas tanker off the coast of Gibraltar, salvage personnel sped to pump fuel from a grounded ship that had started seeping into the water.
• Authorities reported that the OS 35 had experienced a massive leak on Thursday, and environmentalists are concerned about serious ecological harm.
• Authorities at the port attempted to fix the hull, but it split in two, and by Wednesday, some fuel was leaking out of the tank’s vents into the water.

After colliding with a gas tanker off the coast of Gibraltar, salvage personnel sped to pump fuel from a grounded ship that had started seeping into the water.

Authorities reported that the OS 35 had experienced a massive leak on Thursday, and environmentalists are concerned about serious ecological harm.

The following 48 hours, according to Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, are vital.

All 250 tonnes of the ship’s diesel, according to the British overseas territory, had been taken out by Friday afternoon.

The removal of the 215 tonnes of heavy fuel oil had just begun.

“I am quite concerned about a potential spill and will not be at ease until the vessel is completely removed,” the chief minister said, describing it as the most polluting fuel on board.

Lewis Stagnetto, a marine researcher with the Nautilus Project, said that on Friday, there was a noticeable petroleum odor beyond the harbor on Gibraltar’s western shore.

The mayor of La Lnea de la Concepción, a village north of the Rock across the Spanish border, reported that oil had started to reach the town’s beaches, but it had come from the ship’s machinery rather than its tanks.

When the bulk carrier and the tanker Adam LNG, which was transporting liquefied natural gas, collided late on Monday, nobody was wounded.

Despite being damaged, the OS 35, according to Gibraltar authorities, kept sailing out of the Bay of Gibraltar and toward the Strait of Gibraltar, which links the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

The skipper then indicated that he was absorbing water. Officials from Gibraltar claimed that in order to stop the carrier from sinking, they chose to run it aground and partially underwater. Authorities at the port attempted to fix the hull, but it split in two, and by Wednesday, some fuel was leaking out of the tank’s vents into the water.

According to reports, the captain was taken into custody.

Conservationists claimed that even though the ship washed ashore on the east side of the Rock in Catalan Bay, the oil had crept around the southernmost point of the Rock to its western coast in the Bay of Gibraltar.

“Everyone’s feeling quite shell-shocked at the moment,” said Mr Stagnetto. Gibraltar’s NGOs were looking for all types of animals that might have been affected, from limpets to seabirds such as cormorants, he added.

“The biggest problem with oil spills is that everyone focuses on the black stuff, but this is diesel flowing out. We did see some heavy fuel in little patches but overall the fuel is diesel. As it becomes more viscous it infects all animals and pollutes the ecosystem.”

A Spanish maritime rescue crew has assisted Gibraltar officials in using skimmers to remove the oil from the surface while booms have been erected to restrict the oil leak.

The chief minister stated on Friday that while disappointing, the volumes of oil that had reached the shore were very small: “We are hopeful that a comprehensive clean-up can be achieved,” he said.

In order to monitor potential contamination in what is known as the Bay of Algeciras in Spain, officials there were put on high alert, and patrols were dispatched to coastal regions.

Also Read

Prince William and Kate Middleton are among the season 6 cast members of The Crown

A former head girl who played Kate Middleton in Netflix's The Crown...