AUTHORITIES have advised the public to stop fishing and not to eat anything caught in Gibraltar seas as the cleanup of the latest oil spill around the sunken ship continues.

The Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) has sent divers to examine the source of the latest oil leaks that have blackened its coasts and tried to stop its flow, the government said in a statement.

Port launches laid down a ‘special collagen material’ inside the boom around the OS 35 that managed to block the escape of oil from inside the boom, the government reported.

It comes as the government reported that oil was now leaving the ship at a slower rate than before.

These effects are being felt on the beaches, with people complaining of burning eyes when they waded into the sea.

692.4
This thick black oil was caught in the boom but much more escaped during the storm

With the Seven Sisters beach one of the hardest hit, the Department of the Environment is organising a much larger cleanup of the area on Friday.

It is in close contact with NGOs like The Nautilus Project to tackle the large amounts of oil on that isolated beach.

In order to help out in the effort, the department set up scaffolding to allow workers and equipment safe access to the Seven Sisters.

The remote beach lies beneath a sheer harbour wall between the port and Rosia Bay.

GPA Captain John Ghio stopped the refuelling of ships while he focuses all resources on the extended oil spill.

The Department of the Environment is now collecting fish and seawater for testing, the government said.

READ MORE:

Subscribe to the Olive Press

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.