On November 3, a Norwegian cargo ship transporting concrete ran aground and authorities are hoping to stem a gasoline spill at Helguvík harbor near Keflavík.
What happened?
The authorities are hoping to stem a gasoline spill at Helguvík harbor near Keflavík since gasoline was leaking from the Norwegian cargo ship ‘Fjordvik’, which was transporting concrete and ran aground earlier this week.
Search and rescue operations underway
The search and rescue operations were initiated to rescue all 15 crew members in the early morning hours of Sunday morning. The rescue conditions were incredibly rough with hostile sea and terrible weather conditions. All the 15 crew members onboard the vessel were rescued safely.
Fuel pumped off the ship
After the crew members were rescued, the officials pumped the fuel off the ship to prevent further pollution to the harbour waters. There were 104 tonnes of gasoline onboard and a breach in the hull had allowed some of the gasoline to leak into the harbor. The task of pumping fuel off the vessel took several days since the pump was not powerful for carrying out the task.
Ship to be removed
The goal of the authorities is to remove the ship as soon as possible since it poses a threat to the harbour. A Maritime Executive said, “The local harbormaster has indicated that if Fjordvik is refloated, she cannot be towed into the port. Keflavík is the home of Iceland’s main airport, and its harbor has the only terminal for aviation fuel in the country; in the event that the tow should go wrong and block the harbor entrance, flights might be grounded until the vessel could be removed”.
Investigation initiated
The authorities have initiated an investigation into the matter and are continuously monitoring the leak.
Did you subscribe for our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Iceland Review
