SPAIN: MORE OIL FROM THE SUNKEN TANKER PRESTIGE WASHES ASHORE AS A FRENCH MINI SUBMARINE PREPARES TO PROBE THE SUNKEN TANKER

Record ID: 645579

  • Title: SPAIN: MORE OIL FROM THE SUNKEN TANKER PRESTIGE WASHES ASHORE AS A FRENCH MINI SUBMARINE PREPARES TO PROBE THE SUNKEN TANKER
  • Date: 3rd December 2002
  • Summary: (W4) NEMINA, GALICIA, NORTHWESTERN SPAIN (DECEMBER 2, 2002) (REUTERS) LV COASTLINE; OIL FLOATING ON SURFACE OF WATER AND BEING CARRIED TOWARDS THE SHORE; CLOSE-UP OF OIL ON SURFACE OF THE SEA; WAVES AND FOAM (3 SHOTS) MV TWO FISHERMEN LOOKING OUT TO SEA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MANUEL VILELA, 75-YEAR-OLD RETIRED FISHERMAN WHO HAS SIX CHILDREN, SAYING "We live from the sea. Now, the sea is dead. So, we are just waiting and overwhelmed by sadness." SLV POLLUTED BEACH; OILY ROCKS; SLV SEAGULLS ON THE BEACH NEAR THE SHORELINE (4 SHOTS) MV VOLUNTEER CLEANING OIL FROM HIS WELLINGTONS; SLV VOLUNTEERS ON BEACH, CLEANING IT OF OIL AND TAR; SLV VOLUNTEER RAKING OIL FROM SURFACE OF THE SAND; SLV VOLUNTEERS CLEARING SURFACE TAR FROM SAND WITH RAKES (8 SHOTS) SLV SHORELINE AND VILLAGE; SCU SPADE IN SAND, WITH SEA BEHIND IT; SLV OIL-POLLUTED SEA (3 SHOTS) (W4) MUXIA, GALICIA, NORTHWESTERN SPAIN (DECEMBER 02, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV FISHING BOATS RESTING ON SHORE, HARBOUR BEHIND; SLV FISHING BOATS IN HARBOUR; SLV BOATMAN ROWING THROUGH WATER IN HARBOUR (3 SHOTS) MV LOCAL WOMEN STANDING BESIDE HARBOUR; SLV LOCAL RESIDENTS STANDING BESIDE HARBOUR (4 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LUIS GARCIA, FISHERMAN, SAYING "We are all very depressed in the village, waiting for the big oil slick. There is no salvation. Nobody is working and we have no resources." SLV ROW OF FISHING BOATS ON BEACH (W4) FINISTERRE, GALICIA, NORTHWESTERN SPAIN (DECEMBER 02, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV LARGE OIL SLICK ON SURFACE OF THE SEA; SLV OIL SLICK ON WATER SEEN FROM ROCKS; SLV MAN STANDING ON ROCKS LOOKING OUT TO SEA (3 SHOTS) LV BOAT OUT AT SEA WHICH IS HELPING TO CLEAN THE OIL SLICK FROM THE SURFACE; SLV WAVES; SLV SEA AT SUNRISE, SEEN FROM COAST (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 18th December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEMINA, MUXIA AND FINISTERRE, GALICIA, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Disasters,Environment,General,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA37OF3LEVRYUPTL33EBK5LTPS
  • Story Text: More oil from the sunker tanker Prestige has washed ashore in northwestern Spain as a French mini-submarine prepared to probe the Atlantic depths to see if the wreck was still disgorging fuel.
    Clean-up teams faced the dispiriting task of setting to work again on Monday (December 2, 2002) on beaches already cleared of the Prestige's legacy of foul fuel oil. Locals said they feared an even greater disaster as a massive slick undulated off the Galician coast.
    The Prestige unleashed a first wave of tar-like oil when its hull cracked on November 13, coating more than 100 beaches and forcing a fishing ban along 500 km (300 miles) of coastline.
    Now a second major slick threatens the coastline, generated when the Prestige snapped in two and sank on November 19, less than 20 miles (30 km) out at sea. At an estimated 11,000 tonnes, it was twice the size of the one which previously hit the coast. Small sections of it broke off and began polluting the coast.
    Seafood gatherers said rocky banks that are habitat for goose barnacle were plastered in oil, devastating the delicacy that normally provides Galicia with a Christmas bonanza.
    Manuel Vilela, a 75-year-old retired fisherman from Nemina on the Galician coast, explained the local residents' predicament.
    "We live from the sea. Now, the sea is dead. So, we are just waiting and overwhelmed by sadness."
    Volunteers were helping to clean the oil and tar deposits on the beach, raking the pollution from the surface of the sand.
    The question mark over further pullution is critical for thousands of fishermen in northwestern Spain.
    A constant stream of pollution from the sunken Bahamas-flagged and Greek-operated tanker would fulfil their worst nightmares.
    In the fishing village of Muxia, fishing boats rest idle on the beaches and in the harbour.
    One of the fishermen, Luis Garcia said residents are dreading the possibility of further pollution.
    "We are all very depressed in the village, waiting for the big oil slick. There is no salvation. Nobody is working and we have no resources," he told Reuters.
    Meanwhile, a French mini-submarine awaited calmer seas before heading out to inspect the wreckage from the Prestige in its watery grave some 210 km (130 miles) out in the Atlantic, where the sea is about 3.6 km (two miles) deep.
    Once sea conditions permit, the Nautile with its three-person crew was expected to make its first dive and answer the question of whether the tanker is still releasing oil.
    The eight-metre-long (26-foot) vessel was expected to make dives lasting five hours each, including roughly two hours with a close-up view of the wreckage.
    French Environment Minister Roselyne Bachelot and the Portuguese Navy both said last week that the Prestige was still leaking oil. But the Spanish government insists no fuel oil has come up since the tanker broke up and sank on November
    Spanish officials say around 60,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board when the Prestige went down will have solidified in the frigid ocean depths. Any sheen on the surface above the ship is due to traces of fuel used to drive the Prestige's engines.
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