Sunk ships threatens huge diesel spillage off Ibiza

11 July 2007

MADRID – A merchant ship hit rocks and sank just off the coast of Spain’s Mediterranean island of Ibiza on Wednesday. Twenty crew members were rescued.

The vessel, which was empty, had some 150 metric tons of diesel in its tanks. It was heading from the port of Ibiza to Valencia, on the Spanish mainland, when it hit the rocks around 4 a.m. (0300 GMT), said Miguel Felix Chicon Rodriguez, a spokesman for the marine rescue service.

Efforts were being made to curtail any possible spillage and to extract the diesel from the vessel, Chicon added.

Eight of the 20 crew were treated for bruises and hypothermia after they jumped into the sea when the boat started to sink, he said.

[Copyright AP with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news