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France battling to contain six-mile fuel slick after cargo ship carrying 2,000 cars sinks

‘It’s a car crash at the bottom of the sea’ - France faces environmental disaster as thousands of tons of fuel spill

Thursday 14 March 2019 15:44 GMT

Grimaldi vessel Grande America on fire in the Bay of Biscay, off the west coast of France (AP)

French authorities are rushing to contain a major fuel spill off the coast of Brittany after an Italian container ship sank following a fire.

Rescue teams from France and the UK saved all 27 people aboard the Grande America after it sank after a major blaze broke out on Tuesday,

The ship was carrying over 2,000 vehicles, 365 shipping containers, of which 40 contained “hazardous materials” and some 2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, according to Jean-Louis Lozier, head of the regional maritime authority in Brittany.

“For now the possible pollution risk consists mainly of the 2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board,” Mr Lozier told reporters in Brest.

“Around forty containers fell into the sea before the ship sank,” he said. “Most of them were badly damaged by the fire.”

Environment news in pictures

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1/8Environment news in pictures

Environment news in pictures

Davos 2019: David Attenborough issues stark warning about future of civilisation as he demands ‘practical solutions’ to combat climate change

Sir David Attenborough has issued a stark warning about climate change to business figures gathered in Davos, telling them that "what we do now...will profoundly affect the next few thousand years". On the eve of this year's World Economic Forum, the renowned naturalist told the audience that the worlds of business and politics should "get on with the practical solutions" needed to prevent environmental damage. "As a species we are expert problem solvers. But we've not yet applied ourselves to this problem with the focus it requires. "We can create a world with clean air and water, unlimited energy, and fish stocks that will sustain us well into the future. But to do that, we need a plan," he said. The broadcaster made his speech after receiving a Crystal Award, which is awarded by the forum to "exceptional cultural leaders".

AFP/Getty

Environment news in pictures

At least 60% of wild coffee species face extinction triggered by climate change and disease

Two decades of research have revealed that 60 per cent of the world’s coffee species face extinction due to the combined threats of deforestation, disease and climate change. The wild strain of arabica, the most widely consumed coffee on the planet, is among those now recognised as endangered, raising concerns about its long-term survival. These results are worrying for the millions of farmers around the world who depend on the continued survival of coffee for their livelihoods. As conditions for coffee farming become tougher, scientists predict the industry will need to rely on wild varieties to develop more resilient strains

Alan Schaller

Environment news in pictures

Warming Antarctic waters are speeding the rate at which glaciers are melting

The Antarctic ice sheet is losing six times as much ice each year as it was in the 1980s and the pace is accelerating, one of the most comprehensive studies of climate change effects on the continent has shown. More than half an inch has been added to global sea levels since 1979, but if current trends continue it will be responsible for metres more in future, the Nasa-funded study found. The international effort used aerial photos, satellite data and climate models dating back to the 1970s across18 Antarctic regions to get the most complete picture to date on the impacts of the changing climate. It found that between 1979 and 1990 Antarctica lost an average of 40 gigatonnes (40 billion tonnes) of its mass each year. Between 2009 and 2017 it lost an average 252 gigatonnes a year. This has added 3.6mm per decade to sea levels, or around 14mm since 1979, the study shows

Nasa/Getty

Environment news in pictures

Greater Manchester to ban fracking, paving way for confrontation with government over controversial industry

Greater Manchester is to effectively ban fracking, raising the prospect of fresh confrontation with the government over the controversial industry. All of the region’s 10 councils are to implement planning policies which create a “presumption” against drilling for shale gas in their areas, Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has announced. Campaigners said the move was the latest sign that the tide was turning against fracking, which has been the subject of multiple legal battles across the country. Critics of fracking say it poses environmental and health risks. Drilling at the UK’s only operational fracking site, run by Cuadrilla in Lancashire, has repeatedly been halted due to earth tremors. But ministers support the industry and last year unveiled plans to accelerate the development of new drilling sites

Ross Wills

Environment news in pictures

Japan confirms plan to resume commercial whaling in its waters from next year

Japan will resume commercial whaling next year for the first time in more than three decades, in a move that has provoked strong criticism from campaigners and the international community. Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said his nation would leave the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to resume hunting the marine mammals in Japanese waters. However, he stated the activity would be limited to Japan’s territory and the 200 mile exclusive economic zone along its coasts. This means controversial “scientific” trips to Antarctica in which Japanese vessels killed hundreds of whales, as well as activity in the northwest Pacific, will stop in 2019

AP

Environment news in pictures

COP24: Environmental groups criticise ‘morally unacceptable’ climate deal reached after major Poland summit

Diplomats from around the world have agreed a major climate deal after two weeks of United Nations talks in Poland. But climate campaigners warned the deal – effectively a set of rules for how to govern the 2015 Paris climate accord – agreed between almost 200 countries lacked ambition or a clear promise of enhanced climate action. Activists cautiously welcomed elements of the plan, saying “important progress” had been made on ensuring that efforts to tackle climate change by individual nations can be measured and compared. But environmental groups were also highly critical of the agreement, warning it lacked ambition and clarity on key issues, including financing for climate projects for developing countries. The COP24 deal, which is aimed at providing firm guidelines for countries on how to transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions and their efforts to reduce them, was confirmed on 15 December, after talks overran

Reuters

Environment news in pictures

‘Unprecedented changes’ needed to stop global warming as UN report reveals islands starting to vanish and coral reefs dying

Greenhouse gas emissions must be cut almost in half by 2030 to avert global environmental catastrophe, including the total loss of every coral reef, the disappearance of Arctic ice and the destruction of island communities, a landmark UN report has concluded. Drawing on more than 6,000 scientific studies and compiled over two years, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings, released this morning, warn enormous and rapid changes to the way everyone on Earth eats, travels and produces energy need to be brought in immediately. Though the scientists behind the report said there is cause for optimism, they recognised the grim reality that nations are currently nowhere near on track to avert disaster

AFP/Getty

Environment news in pictures

Africa’s three biggest elephant poaching cartels exposed using DNA from illegal ivory shipments

DNA taken from massive shipments of ivory has been used to identify the three largest wildlife trafficking gangs operating at the height of Africa’s elephant poaching epidemic. Ivory tends to be shipped around the world from African ports in bulk, and scientists have used genetic evidence gleaned from intercepted batches to reveal their origins. Led by Dr Samuel Wasser from the University of Washington, they traced a number of these shipments to three cartels operating out of Kenya, Uganda and Togo. Evidence collected by Dr Wasser has already helped convict ivory kingpin Feisal Mohamed Ali, and as his team joins the dots between shipments they plan to shore up the cases against more of the continent’s most prolific smugglers

Art Wolfe

French authorities will try to tackle the spill by deploying four ships and preparing for a cleanup operation on land.

According to the AFP news agency, the fire is believed to have broken out on the car deck before spreading to a container, but the cause remains unknown at this stage.

The contents of the containers include a hundred tonnes of hydrochloric acid and 70 tonnes of sulphuric acid, but Mr Lozier said the pollution risk posed by the chemicals “would be very localised”, and most of it would have already been burned in the fire.

Images released on Thursday by the French navy showed flames and plumes of black smoke spewing from the ship as it listed hard over to one side.

The maritime authority said the ship has already leaked fuel over an area of about 10 kilometres (6 miles) long and one kilometre wide. It is believed it could reach the south coast of Brittany by the end of the weekend.

The Grande America sank about 200 miles west of La Rochelle (AFP)

The Grande America sank about 200 miles west of La Rochelle (AFP)

A French cleanup ship is on its way to the area. France has also asked the European Maritime Security Agency for help using satellites to locate leaks.

The ship sank about 330 kilometres (200 miles) west of the French city of La Rochelle, while en route from Hamburg to Casablanca.

The regional prosecutor has opened an investigation, and France has issued a formal warning to the ship’s operator to assess the damage and help prevent more leaking, the French government minister in charge of the environment, Francois de Rugy said.

According to AFP, French environmental campaign group Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) said it intends to file a complaint over the environmental damage.

“Two thousand vehicles – it’s a car crash at the bottom of the sea, representing hundreds of tonnes of toxic materials in an area very rich in fish, plankton and marine animals,” said Jacky Bonnemains, spokesman for the NGO, adding he also feared possible coastal pollution.

The Amoco Cadiz oil spill in 1978 is still etched in the collective memory of Brittany. It remains the world’s worst oil spill of its kind, with the region taking decades to recover after 220,880 metric tonnes of oil were spilled when a ship broke up in stormy weather.

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