London – Monday Collision between cargo ship and tanker In the North Sea, “there is a high risk of environmental disaster in very important reserves,” Naomi Tilley of Oceana UK, an environmental group focused on the ocean, told CBS News on Tuesday.
The British Coast Guard said about half a mile of exclusion zones had been established around the two vessels, and the two vessels were no longer in trouble.
Greenpeace Britain said in a statement earlier Tuesday: “It is too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage at this stage, explaining that the severity of any impact will depend on a number of factors, including “the amount and type of oil carried by the tanker, the fuel carried by the two vessels, and how much (if any) of the water was input. ”
The British Coast Guard said its anti-pollution and salvage team was “evaluating the situation” and “develop a plan of preparation for implementation immediately if the situation permits”.
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According to the UK Health Security Agency, air quality in the area is reportedly normal and there are “very low” public health risks on the nearby coast.
“It’s hard to know what’s in the water and how it’s going to behave at this stage, but in any case, it’s bad news.”
Oil tanker collision near protected ocean area
The North Sea is home to many protected marine animals and is also an important fishing stock in the UK and other European countries.
Tilley said Oceana UK believes that the collision occurs especially near two protected areas, including the Marine Reserve in the South of the North Sea, which was designated as a protection port dolphin.
“This is a very important breeding field where the majority of the global population is found,” she said.
Tilley told CBS News that Harbor Porpoise is a “species that require breathing to the surface, so it cannot easily avoid sliding on the surface.”
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Meanwhile, safe areas for designated subsea habitats hold marine protected areas.
“There are centuries of ocean Quahogs. They are really these clams, they really live long. And starfish, underwater sponges and things … they are all very important and they are very close if there is no place where this event happens,” Tilley said.
Possible pollutants
Crowley, the American logistics group that operates the ship, said the two ships involved in the collision had their own propulsion fuel, and the hit U.S. tankers are also transporting jet fuel.
Jet fuel is toxic to marine life, Crowley said, some of which have been released in the crash.
“Stena’s perfect cargo box was loaded with JET-A1 fuel due to the collision,” Crowley said in a statement to Reuters news agency. “There was a fire that occurred.”
It is unclear how much jet fuel was released Tuesday and how much might have been burned in the fire.
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The initial report indicated that the container carrying sodium cyanide was on another ship, a Portuguese-signed cargo ship called MV Solong. Sodium cyanide is a rapidly evaporating toxic substance that can cause dangerous air conditions on the water to clean crew and animals.
But the shipping company that operates the ship, Ernst Rust, said Tuesday there are no containers containing sodium cyanide on solong, but four previously contained the chemical and are monitoring them.
Potential risks of the fishing industry – Consumers
Tilly said the pollution of the collision could affect the North Sea and the people who rely on them.
“The North Sea is an important area of the British fishing fleet, but it is also the European fishing fleet,” Tilley said.
The extent of any environmental pollution remains unknown, she said, but that “can have long-term effects on the community, such as whether chemicals end up in the water. If this affects the stockpile of fish and the fish we eat, then it could have an impact on the fishing industry.”
Tilley noted that previous large oil spills “caused a large area because fishing was not allowed to be caught for a long time due to contaminated fish.”
