Oil Spill Of Irish Coast

[no waiii]

DUBLIN (AFP) – An oil spill thought to stem from a Russian navy refuelling accident off Ireland's south coast at the weekend may be over three times the size first reported, Irish coastguards said Tuesday.

The spill in the North Atlantic could eventually pollute the Irish or Welsh coastlines, the transport ministry said, while adding that much of the fuel will likely be dispersed by waves and the weather.

Ireland has scrambled aircraft and a naval vessel to monitor the spill, now estimated to be up to 1,000 tonnes by the British coastguard, about 48 to 64 kilometres (30 to 40 miles) off the south coast.

The Irish Coast Guard has contracted a tug based in Cork on the south coast to travel to the scene to evaluate whether the oil can be mechanically recovered at sea, in theory starting Wednesday.

Vessels on the scene at the moment include two refuelling tankers, one aircraft carrier, one Russian ocean-going tug, one Russian destroyer, one British destroyer and Irish Naval vessel Aisling.

The Coast Guard said it had established that no nuclear vessels are involved.

A satellite surveillance pollution report from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in Lisbon alerted the Irish authorities to the pollution on Saturday.

The ministry said aerial surveillance from an Irish aircraft and helicopter "confirmed an oil spill covering approximately 4.5km x 5 km surrounding a Russian aircraft carrier and a refuelling tanker".

The Russian naval attache confirmed on Monday that the carrier had been carrying out a fuel transfer at sea operation -- called bunkering -- from a Russian supply tanker at sea, said a ministry statement.

"The attache confirmed an internal investigation is being carried out into the cause of the incident and said that Russian aerial surveillance considered that approximately 300 tonnes of oil was on the sea surface."

But the ministry said aerial surveillance flights by the British Coastguard "have indicated that in their opinion, using various specialist sensors onboard their aircraft indicate that the spill is up to 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil".

The statement said the attaché "could not tell the Coast Guard how this happened or whether it was from their refuelling operations".

In Moscow, the head of the Russian chief of staff Nikolai Makarov confirmed that a group of Russian warships had been refuelling in the area but denied there had been any significant leaking of fuel.

"In this area a group of warships carried out refuelling but according to the commander of the group Admiral Korolev the refuelling proceeded normally and no significant outflow of fuel took place," he said, cited by Interfax.

A Russian naval spokesman, Igor Dygalo, disputed the size of the oil spill, saying it neither "has a catastrophic character nor constitutes a threat to coastal ecology."

The Russian embassy in Dublin has been asked to supply samples of the oils carried on board the Russian tankers and the aircraft carrier and for oil characteristic data sheets.

The ministry said the oil slick is breaking up and is spreading over a larger area and moving eastwards paralleling the coast.

"The oil spill is forecast to continue to disperse and to break up. The residual oil remaining is expected to develop into tar balls.

"Depending on weather conditions these may end up on the Irish South east coast in approximately 16 days time and also impact on the Welsh coastline. At this point it is too early to predict accurate volumes" the ministry said.

[efq]

Why don't they use the classic put a fencing bit around it and trap it, its floats at the end of the day and they can just suck it up.


By the way don't you mean "Oil spill off Irish coast"

[no waiii]

Why don't they use the classic put a fencing bit around it and trap it, its floats at the end of the day and they can just suck it up.


By the way don't you mean "Oil spill off Irish coast"

oh sorry i fotgot a f

[jesus]

expect petrol prices to rise everybody! bet this is gonna cost em quite a bit

[leah]

That will take some clearing up.

[PaintYourTarget]

expect petrol prices to rise everybody! bet this is gonna cost em quite a bit

It was fuel intended for the Russian Navy, paid for out of the Russian Defence Budget and not going to be sold on. It'll not affect commercial prices.

[Immenseman]

go take your bucket down to the beach graham

[no waiii]

i dont live in the country side thats were its gunna hit the beaches