EMEA News
Greece Receives Fuel Spill Clean Up Support from Mediterranean Assistance Unit
The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre (REMPEC) says Greece has activated the Mediterranean Assistance Unit (MAU) to assist with clean up efforts related to the sunken tanker Agia Zoni II.
As Ship & Bunker reported, Agia Zoni II sank off Piraeus on September 10 with 2,195 metric tonnes (mt) fuel oil, 340 mt of MGO as cargo, as well as 15 mt MGO as bunkers and 300 litres lubricants on board.
Under the MAU framework, experts have now been mobilised for a mission in Athens from October 8 - 14 to provide technical support on sunken oil assessment and removal techniques and efficient oil removal from sandy beaches.
The experts are from the Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (Cedre) based in Brest, France, and from the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) based in Rome, Italy, both members of the MAU.
"An expert can be sent to provide national authorities with advice and technical expertise which they may need during the initial period of a marine pollution incident in order to decide which measures to take," explained REMPEC.
"This advice and technical expertise may include: assessment of the situation, adapting national response according to the circumstances of the accident, response methods and techniques, experts, equipment and products which can be requested from Contracting Parties or from private organisations."
Last month, Ship & Bunker reported that the captain and chief mechanic of a ship involved in clean-up operations for the spill from the sunken tanker were arrested on fuel smuggling charges.
