SPAIN: The Galician coast in north-west Spain is threatened with a new oil slick, possibly even bigger than the one that contaminated more than 250 kilometres of coastline 10 days ago when the tanker Prestige sank 140 miles out to sea. A front some 50 kms wide is reported to be drifting towards the coast, pushed by gale-force winds and heavy seas. From Jane Walker, in Madrid
A 5,000 tonne fragment that broke away from the main slick washed ashore over the weekend between the headland of Touriñan, near the fishing port of Muxia, and Corrubedo near Cape Finisterre.
Salvage experts hope the weather will improve sufficiently over the next 24 hours to allow them to syphon up the oil from the surface of the water before it contaminates the coastline.
When the 26-year-old Prestige sank on November 19th it was only a question of time before her already corroded tanks split and some or all of the 55,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil came to the surface.
The French mini-submarine Nautile, which played an important role in finding the wreck of the Titanic, arrived in Spain yesterday to help with the salvage and clean-up operation. As soon as weather improves, she is expected to go down the two miles to the sea floor to examine the wreck and discover how much oil has escaped from her tanks.
Hopes that the cold waters at that depth would cause the oil to solidify and remain on the bottom appear to have been dashed.
Eight other specially equipped ships from across Europe are collaborating with the clean-up operation but bad visibility, high seas and gales yesterday forced them to remain in port.
The area north of Cape Finisterre is still repairing the damage from the first slick, caused when the first 15,000 tonnes spilled and contaminated dozens of tourist beaches and valuable crustacean and fishing grounds of Galicia around La Coruña less than two weeks ago. Kilometres of floating booms have been set up to prevent oil washing in to the rias, or fjord-like deep water inlets - breeding grounds for many kinds of fish - and many more are ready for use if necessary.
The new slick, estimated at around 11,000 tonnes, was first spotted at the end of last week. It is unclear whether the two slicks spotted last week in the Cantabrian Sea came from the Prestige. It is more than 100 miles from the site of the sinking, and it is believed other ships have used the disaster to illegally clean out their tanks.
Concern has grown about the toxicity of the oil as many of those involved in the clean-up operations were overcome by fumes and taken to hospital yesterday. Specialists have warned that the high sulphur content of the oil makes it highly carcinogenic.
Frustration and anger among local people is growing. Yesterday thousands of demonstrators marched in pouring rain behind a banner reading "Never again" in the Galician capital Santiago de Compostela.
The European Union is taking steps to ban ageing and single-hulled tankers like the Prestige.