England is going to experience one of its worst ecological nightmares.
A damaged ship, MSC Napoli, grounded on Sunday off the English coast of Devon leaking more than 200 tons of oil, that have already formed an 8 km (5 miles) spill on the surface of the water, threatening the nearby coastline, one of the last pristine places in England.
The main concern of the officials is the fuel that is still in the tanks. If released in the sea, it could be the worst environmental disaster ever for Britain. "Some of the ship's approximately 3,000 tons of diesel and other fuel had leaked out through a crack in the vessel's port side," said Robin Middleton, the government's
salvage adviser. "No major tanks were believed to have been breached."
"Salvage workers would attempt to stabilize the ship to prevent it from capsizing, pump out the fuel and remove the containers."
The removal of the heavy fuel oil has started at first light and could last up to a week and two vessels will receive the oil. The operation is a difficult one because of the angle of the ship, a 30-degree-angle, and because the oil must be heated before it could be taken off.
Officials are "highly confident" about the operation's success and that environmental damage would be minimal.
The ship has also lost some 200 containers overboard (including BMW motorbikes, car parts and other goods), two of them containing hazardous materials (one with battery acids and perfume products, other with small gas bottles for car airbags), but they posed "minimal" risk.
The salvaging efforts were hampered by force winds that hit the English shore late Saturday. Dozens of people spent the night "salvaging" tonnes of goods on the shoreline, despite official warnings.
The ship was deliberately run aground in waters close to Sidmouth in southwest England after it suffered structural damage during a storm Thursday, to prevent it sinking in deep water.
The 26 crew members were rescued by helicopters.
The 62,000 tonne ship was transporting 2,323 containers, amongst which 158 with potentially toxic contents.
The 16-year-old ship is registered in London and passed last time through an inspection in May 2005, when it met safety standards.
This is the biggest event of its kind in Europe after the 2002 Prestige disaster (photo), in northwestern Spain.
The recovery of the landcape and marine life could take years.
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