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FURY AS PIRATE FISHING SHIP SINKS TO CANARY SEA-BED
Photos: www.salvamentomaritimo.es
“An incredible blunder” says Greenpeace amid fears over oil slick
T
HE bizarre sinking of a banned Russian fishing ship in the ocean off Gran Canaria is still posing the threat of an environmental disaster and opened many questions, including “how?” and “why?” Since last weekend, the 108-metre long Oleg Naydenov has been sitting 2,400 metres down on the sea-bed with a fuel tank containing an estimated 1,400 tons of oil. The trawler, which had already been blacklisted by the authorities, caught fire whilst in the docks at Las Palmas and the decision was taken to tow it out to sea, rather than risk an explosion in a populated area. However, water jets aimed at the flames made the trawler list and eventually sink. Some time on April 20th or April 21st, a Russian “robot” was due to arrive in the Canary Islands to go down to the
wreck and find out its condition and whether any oil is still leaking. Meantime, a huge environmental plan has been launched to recover any wildlife such as birds and turtles which might have been affected by a oil slick which may or may not hit one of the islands or Cape Verde. Its direction all depends on the weather and if salvage crews can clean it up in time. Greenpeace and other environmental groups are furious about the whole scenario which they have decribed as “an incredible blunder”. The campaigners say they
cannot believe the Spanish authorities took the decision to tow the burning pirate fishing boat from the docks of Gran Canaria back out into the Atlantic when the beaches of the Canar y Islands were nearby. Over the weekend, Greenpeace said it spotted an oil slick of 70 kilometres from the air but was ordered out of the air space which has been closed to traffic. They fear it is in danger of reaching the shores of Cape Verde which houses one of the world’s greatest population of endangered sea turtles. The Russian ship had already been fined more than a million dollars for illegal fishing and question are being asked about what it wa doing back in the docks. Had it been fishing again despite the
blacklist and did the authorities realise it was there? Greenpeace spokesman Juande Fernández said the situation was totally unacceptable, adding: “All the fuel must be removed from the ship, no matter what the cost.” The campaigners feel the pressure of the water at the bottom of the ocean could break the hull and tanks and have a long-term impact. They say they had sounded repeat-
ed warnings about the vessel which at one stage created diplomatic tensions between Senegal and Russia A number of turtles covered in oil have already been rescued and treated at a wildlife centre. The wreck of the boat is about 15 miles from the famous sand dunes of Maspalomas in Gran Canaria. The Spanish authorities have sent out a plane and boats to monitor the spill and are using barriers and skimmers to contain the oil. The Canary Government is
also furious and wants an investigation. Spain’s Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism and president of PP Canarias, José Manuel Soria said everything possible was being done to make sure the oil slick did not reach the Canaries and they were following the operations very closely. When questioned, he said he did not think it would affect tourism and the island were still on course for a record-breaking year.