80 percent of the diesel load carried in its tanks by the ship “OS 35”, the freighter that collided last Monday in the Bay of Algeciras and remains stranded off the east side of Gibraltar, has already been extracted with success.
The pumping tasks, which began yesterday afternoon and have been maintained continuously during the night, have managed to extract 197 cubic meters of fuel from the ship until 7:00 today, as reported by the Gibraltar government.
The Gibraltarian administration has carried out “continuous monitoring throughout the night, including drones and ground planes, with thermal images” to follow the evolution of the tasks.
Port operations remain suspended on the Rock.
The Gibraltar Contingency Council will meet at 12:30 pm today to follow the situation created after the collision of e “OS 35” with a methane tanker.
The captain of the ship, who, after the collision, allegedly disobeyed the orders of the Gibraltarian port authorities and continued on his way until he discovered that there was a leak that could sink the ship, was arrested yesterday.
The “OS 35” carried, for its own consumption, 215 tons of heavy fuel oil, 250 tons of diesel and 27 tons of lubricating oil.
A part of this fuel that has not been quantified yesterday spilled into the sea and crossed the first containment barrier. The leak, located in two tank vents, was sealed by divers.
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