Collision off Corsica: the pollution zone has spread
The spill of pollution caused by the leak of fuel oil following the collision of two ships last Sunday in northern Corsica has spread, said the maritime prefect of the Mediterranean the day after the extrication of the two boats. Thursday evening the Tunisian ship Ulysses had freed the container ship Cypriot Virginia he had struck north-west of Cape Corsica in offshore waters. “What’s left in Virginia’s No. 3 bunker, about 100 cubic meters of gas oil, did not spill, so there is no over-pollution,” said the maritime prefect, Vice-Admiral Charles-Henri de the Faverie du Che. “The slight over-pollution linked to the opening up of the Ulysses is under control because it is surrounded by the dam that we had preventively put in place,” he added.
Nevertheless, the fight against pollution “is not over because with the wind and the current the different pollution zones have spread out,” said the prefect, referring to “three large areas that each extend 25 kilometers”. “We have a weather window that is favorable until at least Sunday (today, Ed), after it is less safe,” he said assuring that “no coast in two-three days that come is not threatened. ” The state services, warned the prefecture, keep “accurate accounting of the costs incurred in this operation for a claim for reimbursement from shipowners.” Recall that the Ulysses, whose owner has obtained confirmation that his condition allowed to sail, set sail for a Tunisian port Friday. “The Virginia vessel remains at anchor with an anti-pollution boom around her breach and it is now up to her shipowner to take the necessary measures to transit to a shipyard,” the prefecture added.
