BUNKER OIL FROM SUNKEN ôTRICOLORö REACHES FRENCH COAST
A leak of bunker oil from the submerged hull of the Wallenius Wilhelmsen car carrier 'Tricolor' in the English Channel has reached the shoreline of France near Dunkirk.
Heavy seas caused a valve to fail while bunker oil was being pumped from the ship, which lies on its side at a point in the channel where water at low tide barely clears the vessel’s hull. The initial spill was in the range of 30-50 metric tons, from a tank that held 160 metric tons. Most of the oil around the hull has now been contained, said Per Ronnevig, a spokesman for Wilhelmsen in Oslo.
“We have a Norwegian supply vessel on the scene,” Ronnevig said. “The seas have been so rough that our divers can only stay down for half an hour to an hour each day.”
Between 700-800 metric tons of bunker oil remain inside the 'Tricolor’s' tanks. When the vessel capsized Dec. 14 following a collision with another ship in dense fog, it carried 2,000 metric tons of bunker oil.
Feb. 7 is the deadline for salvors’ bids to raise the wreckage and remove it, since the 'Tricolor' remains a navigational hazard in a crowded shipping lane.