Oil spillage from the ‘OS-35’ ship stranded in Gibraltar has reached beaches on the Cadiz coast

The ‘Verdemar Ecologists in Action’ group claimed that oil has washed up on beaches in Cadiz province from the ‘OS-35’ ship that is stranded in Gibraltar.

According to the group ‘Verdemar Ecologists in Action’, the remains of oil from the ‘OS 35’ ship that has been stranded east of Gibraltar since August 30 last year, are reaching the coast of the Cadiz region of Campo de Gibraltar. In a statement published this Thursday, April 6, they argued that oil has appeared on beaches in the municipalities of Algeciras and Los Barrios.

“Today there were frequent oil stains from the Palmones river in Los Barrios to the beach of La Concha, in El Rinconcillo, in Algeciras”, they claimed. “Specifically, these were balls of oil mixed with seawater and oil stains. We believe that the vessel still has the remains in its holds and oil circuits of hydrocarbons that may come out as a result of the storm”, they added.

#verdemar denuncia que llegan restos de hidrocarburos procedentes del OS35 a la Bahía de Algeciras #ElRinconcillo #playa #parajenatural #verdemarecologistas #verdemarecologistasenacción pic.twitter.com/1wNFwl52VN

— Verdemar Ecologistas en Acción (@Verdemar_EA) April 6, 2023

Jose Ignacio Landaluce, the mayor of Algeciras, confirmed in a statement the arrival of the remains of the spill on the Rinconcillo beach and called on Gibraltar to take responsibility for this situation.

He considered that this incident: “once again puts Gibraltar in the spotlight as being responsible for a situation that has been badly managed from No6 Convent Place, and for which the Spanish Government is largely responsible”.

Landaluce recalled that he has been warning of the danger of the ship remaining aground. It is a warning that: “the governments of Spain and Gibraltar have ignored”, he insisted. “These problems are the result of these mistakes”, the mayor stressed.

The mayor reported that since early on Thursday morning, work had been carried out to remove the fuel oil deposits that had appeared on the coast. He regretted that: “In any case, the damage has already been done. With the damage that this means for tourism, and the serious environmental consequences that come with the contact of hydrocarbons with the natural environment”.

“This is not a one-off case since it is incomprehensible that a territory which boasts one of the highest per capita incomes on the planet should lack a sewage treatment plant, which means that all the sewage from Gibraltar is constantly being discharged into the waters of the Bay of Algeciras”, Landaluce continued.

In Gibraltar, the beaches of Catalan Bay, Sandy Bay, and Little Bay, which were hit by the spills, are temporarily closed to bathing due to the clean-up operation. This is said to be “progressing well, in coordination with contractors and Oil Spill Response Limited”, according to a statement from the Gibraltar Government.

The Gibraltar Maritime Authority confirmed that Wednesday’s storm caused the permanent separation of the bilge keel. This bilge keel was the only connection, very tenuous, that remained between the two parts of the wreck it explained.

They added that there had been no further reports of oil leaks since yesterday afternoon: “further evidence that this oil was the unrecoverable fuel from the pipe linking the fuel tank to the engine compartment”, as reported by larazon.es.

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