Rennes - French tugboats battled high seas yesterday to try to ward off the pollution threat from a fuel oil tanker which broke up off the west coast. Helicopters rescued all 26 crew after the Maltese-flagged Erika broke in two around 70 miles south of Brest.
The tugboats braved gales and waves of up to six metres in an attempt to reach the vessel, carrying between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes of fuel oil, and haul the two sections of the 180-metre ship further out to sea.
"So far, it's not a major pollution risk," said Mr Christophe Rousseau, an official at the marine pollution centre in Brest.