Reports say that the efforts of Begian and Dutch authorities in containing the spread of an oil spill that resulted from the collision between a LNG tanker and a general cargo ship is making ‘good progress’. Still the vessel remains partially submerged in water. It’s said that the slick might have moved 8 km close to the Belgian shore.
The removal of heavy fuel oil from the undamaged and relatively easily accessible oil tanks should have been completed.
The 8,850-dwt cargo ship Flinterstar was carrying 125 tonnes of diesel and 427 tonnes of fuel oil when it collided with the 210,000 cu m Al Oraiq LNG tanker off the Belgian coast on Tuesday morning.
Belgian and Dutch authorities are attempting to build a protective sand bank around the Zwin nature reserve, which straddles their common border, officials said.
“Calculations show that it is possible that oil reaches the Zwin,” West Flanders authorities said in a Facebook post.
