Battle to avert oil slick ends in victory

Press, 24 October 1978, Page 9

Battle to avert oil slick ends in victory

NZPA-Reuter London The battle to’ prevent widespread pollution from the stricken Greek Tanker Christos Bitas ended in victory at the week-end when the last of her 35,000-tonne cargo of oil was pumped off. News of the “all clear” from vessels at the scene, about 40km off the Welsh coast, brought a swift message of congratulations from the British Shipping Minister (Mr Stanley Clinton Davis). “The entire operation has been marked by quite re markable expertise, co-oper-ation, and determination to

succeed on the part of all concerned,” he said. It was “a job well done.” Later, teams of divers inspected the tanker’s hull and sent their report to London, where experts and interested parties were yesterday deciding the ship’s future. The BP ship British Dragoon to which 31,853 gallons of the oil was transferred, disengaged from the tanker and left for Rotterdam. Some salvage workers were taken off at St Ann’s Head, and flown to London. The future of the Christos Bitas now largely depends on what holes divers discover in the hull that was

badly torn when she grounded on rocks off Milford' Haven 13 days ago. Compressed air in her oil tanks was still keeping her well afloat yesterday, and if it is possible to carry out repairs, she might be ordered into a port such as Falmouth, which has a dry dock. If she is not worth repairing, she could be sold for scrap. Experts and representatives of the tanker’s owners, insurance underwriters, Government agencies, BP, and United Towing Company, were considering the options.