Oil from broken ship threatens havoc

Press, 20 March 1978, Page 8

Oil from broken ship threatens havoc

NZPA-Reuter Portsall (France) | A 2325 q km oil slick leaking from the shattered Amoco Cadiz has cast a deep black shadow over the livelihood of thousands of fishermen of the Brittany coast of France.

Thick muddy waves of oil lapped against the rocky )coastline. polluting the bass shoals, lobster holes, and [seaweed plantations on [which most local people are idependent for a living.

The French Environment; Minister (Mr Michel | D’Ornano) said in Portsail on Friday that an emer°ency team from Philips Petroileum. which owned the grounded tanker, were due to arrive from Detroit to pump the remaining 140.000 tonnes of oil into a convoy of empty tankers. But angry in-shore fishermen said it was too late and many planned to send in

their Government fishing permits and demand redundancy payments because fishing seemed impossible for weeks to come. “Eat some oysters and some bass while they are still oil-free.” said a distraught restaurant-owner at Brest 30km from where the 109.000-tonne tanker ran aground and snapped in two on jagged rocks on Thursday night. “It’s always the fishermen who pay.” said a lobster-cat-cher pointing to the wreck of the Amoco Cadiz which sat like a broken toy one [kilometre from Portsail.

The vessel developed [steering nroblems in high seas on Thursday night. An ocean-going tug tried to tow it to safety but the line isnapned and the ship drifted on the rocks. On Friday six Navy vessels sprayed thousands of [gallons of detergent to disperse the slick, which officials estimated at 29km long

and Bkm wide. Some 80,000 tonnes are thought to have leaked from, the tanker. Soldiers have been sent to mop up the shore line where seabirds wallowed in a deep suffocating black mire. Al! 42 crew on board the Liberian-registered tanker, including one woman, were j lifted to safety by helicopi ters.

Maritime officials said that three of the vessel’s 15 tanks were holed. But so far, no officials have managed to reach the ship to establish the extent of the damage.

The 80,000-tonne figure was the same as spilled by the 1 tanker Torrey Canyon off the English coast in 1967, [ still vividly remembered in France for the pollution it j brought to Brittany. “It’s 11 years since the) Torrey Canyon disaster andi what has anyone done 'oj ward off oil pollution? Nothing,” an embittered local fisherman said.