Huge oil slick from Russian ship heads for British coastline

Coastguards in Britain and Ireland were on red alert today after a Russian aircraft carrier spilt an estimated 1,000 tonnes of oil off the southern Irish coast.
The spill, which happened as the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier was refuelling at sea, caused a slick that is now more than three miles long and almost as wide.
It is the biggest oil spill in waters around the British Isles since the Sea Empress ran aground off Milford Haven in 1996, causing widespread damage to the Pembrokeshire coast.
Today's spill took place in international waters but the oil has since floated into Irish territory and is now heading for the Welsh coast where it could cause severe losses among breeding birds and marine animals including dolphins, porpoises and seals.

Surveillance flights by Britain’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) calculated that about 1,000 tonnes of oil were spilt.

Russian authorities put the figure at 300 tonnes and have yet publicly to admit their role.
The aircraft carrier, a Russian refuelling ship and a Russian tug were, however, found amid the oil when the spill was detected by a satelite on Saturday. Four other Russian naval vessels were nearby.
Samples of oil from aboard the ships have been requested by the Irish maritime authorities, who are leading the clear-up operation while the slick remains in their waters. A sample taken from the sea was on its way to Edinburgh yesterday for analysis at the MCA’s laboratory.
A spokesman for the Irish coastguard said: “There was no collision. The latest we have is that it was a bunkering [fuel transfer] accident. It is military-involved so we don’t have 100 per cent of the information on what happened. There is a British warship in the area and an Irish naval vessel is also on the way out.”
A tug based at Cork was being loaded with specialist anti-pollution equipment today and should reach the spill tomorrow (times online)

Will it come as far us the English Channel and therefore towards us?

That's all we need is an oil slick to go with our s**t slick.

But it should stop the sh1t sticking to our shores

Doh.... this is enough to put me off seafood for a bit........

and I LOVE seafood..... oh dear!!


Hopefully they can catch most of it before it comes our way!

Hopefully it doesn't kill too much marine life and birds.....