The Diplomat
The wreck of the ship ‘OS 35’, which semi-sank off the coast of Gibraltar after an accident at the end of August last year, finally left the Bay of Algeciras yesterday morning after the successful conclusion of the work of extraction and removal of the wreck,
The Gibraltar Harbour Master reported that the wreck has left the Gibraltar port on board the vessel ‘Fjord’. The Captain of the Port of Gibraltar, John Ghio, said that “the long and difficult operation to remove the wreck of the OS 35 from Gibraltar has been safely concluded”.
In a statement, Ghio expressed his gratitude to all those involved from the outset, such as the specialist staff of the Gibraltar Port Authority, the Department of the Environment, partner agencies and NGOs, “our Spanish colleagues and stakeholders across the border, as well as the contractor Koole”.
Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo, congratulated the entire crisis response team activated after the accident almost a year ago, and said their work “has been praised across the industry and across the border and across the Bay”.
Referring to Spain, he said that “our usual critics have become our partners in dealing with the problems that have arisen, and that international support and recognition has been remarkable”.
The ‘OS 35’ suffered an accident in the early hours of 31 August when it was about to leave the Bay of Algeciras, when it collided with a gas tanker off Europa Point, and the Gibraltar authorities immediately intervened by transporting the stricken vessel to the eastern side of the Rock, where it was semi-sunk in a controlled manner to avoid an environmental disaster.
Since then, arduous work has taken place to extract the fuel and cargo from the ship, which on two occasions resulted in oil spills that affected the coastline of the neighbouring towns of La Línea de la Concepción and Algeciras.
The transfer of the refloated remains of the ship puts an end to an episode of environmental tension in the area that has lasted for nearly a year.
