The spillage from the ship stranded in Gibraltar reaches the Cadiz coast

Algeciras (Cádiz), (EFE).- Remains of hydrocarbons from the ship “OS 35”, stranded east of Gibraltar since last August 30 causing a spill, are reaching the coast of the Campo de Gibraltar region of Cadiz.

This has been warned by the Verdemar Ecologistas en Acción collective, which maintains in a note that remains have appeared on beaches in the Cadiz municipalities of Algeciras and Los Barrios.

“Today, hydrocarbon slicks were frequent from the area of ​​the Palmones river -in Los Barrios- to La Concha beach, in El Rinconcillo, in Algeciras”, specifically “balls of hydrocarbons mixed with seawater and oil slicks” .

“We believe that the ship still has traces of hydrocarbons in its holds and oil circuits that may come out as a result of the storm,” they add.

For his part, the mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce (PP), has confirmed in a statement the arrival of remains of the spill on the Rinconcillo beach and calls on Gibraltar to assume responsibility for this situation.

He considers that this incident “puts Gibraltar back in the spotlight as responsible for a situation that has been poorly managed from number 6 Convent Place, and for which the Government of Spain bears a large part of the responsibility.”

Landaluce recalled that he has been warning of the danger of the ship remaining aground, a warning that “the governments of Spain and Gibraltar have ignored”, and “from these errors come these problems”.

Closed beaches in Gibraltar

The mayor has reported that since early this morning work has been done to remove the fuel oil biscuits that are appearing on the coast and regrets that, “in any case, the damage has already been done”, with “the damage what it means for tourism” and “the serious environmental consequences of hydrocarbon contact with the natural environment”.

He assures that “this is not a specific case, since it is not understood that a territory that boasts of having one of the highest ‘per capita’ incomes on the planet lacks a wastewater treatment plant, which means that all Gibraltar’s sewage is constantly discharged into the waters of the Bay of Algeciras.

In Gibraltar, the beaches of Catalan Bay, Sandy Bay and Little Bay, affected by the spills, are temporarily closed to bathing due to clean-up operations, which “advance at a good pace, in coordination with the contractors and Oil Spill Response Limited” , as indicated by the Government of Gibraltar in a note.

In addition, the Executive of the Rock has announced that the Gibraltarian Maritime Captaincy has confirmed that the storm this Wednesday caused the definitive separation of the bilge keel and that the bilge keel was the only connection, very tenuous, that remained between the two parts of the wreck.

They add that there have been no further reports of oil leaks after the one yesterday afternoon, “further evidence that this oil was the unrecoverable fuel” from the pipeline linking the fuel tank to the engine compartment. EFE