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SPAIN: July 16, 2007
MADRID - An oil slick from a ship that sank near the port of Ibiza has reached the waters of a nature reserve on the southern coast of the holiday island, a Spanish government minister said on Sunday.
Clean up crews have been at work since Wednesday when the 'Don Pedro' merchant ship sank off the port of Ibiza, releasing 150 tonnes of fuel oil into the Mediterranean sea.
Three beaches on the popular resort island have been closed and the slick is now threatening the Ses Salines nature reserve, Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said.
"The reserve comprises land and sea, obviously there is pollution in the sea, we are trying to make sure it doesn't get to the beaches of the reserve," Narbona told a news conference.
The Ses Salines reserve is an internationally recognised wildlife habitat covering 2,000 hectares and is a resting point for migratory birds between Africa and Europe.
Behind the beaches of the reserve at Ibiza's southern tip lie salt marshes, home to a year-round population of flamingos.
Crews are working to clear the oil directly from the sea and remove polluted sand and have erected floating barriers to protect beaches from the oil leak.
Authorities have contracted a Dutch salvage vessel to remove the remaining fuel out of the sunken ship, the minister said.
Divers discovered new leaks in the ship on Saturday, releasing fuel and hydraulic oil into the sea. Crews are working to clean up fuel and oil from the leaks, Narbona said.
But it was difficult to estimate how much fuel had leaked into the sea, she said.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
