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Date Published: 31/08/2022

ARCHIVED - Gibraltar fights to avoid oil spill after two huge boats crash off the coast southern Spain

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The Port Authority on the Rock is frantically trying to contain a “leak of hydraulic fluid” into the sea

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Gibraltar fights to avoid oil spill after two huge boats crash off the coast southern Spain

Two boats crashed in the Bay of Algeciras (Cadiz) yesterday, Tuesday August 30, leaving one of them in a half sunken state in the water and leaking “hydraulic fluid” near the Strait of Gibraltar.

The liquefied natural gas tanker ADAM LNG collided with the bulk carrier OS 35, leaving the latter semi-sunken in the waters just off Algeciras, in front of Gibraltar’s Catalan Bay.

In response, the Government of Gibraltar has announced that it will deal with the “leak of hydraulic fluid” from the OS 35 by deploying around it a marine barrier to contain the contamination and minimise the leaks at source.

There is said to be significant damage to the starboard side of the OS 35, including ten-metre a gash below the waterline. It was carrying 183 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, 250 tonnes of diesel and 27 tonnes of lube oil, and was leaving Gibraltar to head to Vlissengen in the Netherlands when it clipped the ADAM LNG, which appears to have suffered no significant damage.

The crew on board the OS 35 are reported to be “safe and well”, but what is concerning authorities is the hydraulic fluid from the vessel’s forward crane, “which is the only one of the four cranes aboard the vessel affected by water ingress so far”.

“A sea boom has been deployed around the vessel to contain any pollution,” the Gibraltar government said in a statement. “An additional absorbent boom has been deployed to surround the crane structure, in order to minimise seepage at the source and to contain and collect the fluid to prevent further leeching to sea.”

The Port Authority is working alongside surveyors and specialist rescuers from the Netherlands to continue technical planning with the aim of refloating the boat, and possibly remove the fuel loaded in the vessel “as safely and with as little risk to the environment as possible, and as soon as is safely possible”.

Image: Government of Gibraltar

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