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Bulk carrier prosecuted

The Gibraltar Port Authority on March 8 has announced the prosecution of the 'AM Ghent' for the recent oil spill. A £20,000 fine was set by the Magistrate s in addition to the payment of £1.5 million pound security bond by the vessel owners' through their P&I Club, as surety to cover all the oil spill clean up expenses that may be incurred by the Gibraltar Government and which was a prerequisite for the vessel to be allowed to depart Gibraltar. The ship is now enroute to Norfolk, Virginia, with an ETA as of March 13.

Captain to appear at court

The captain of the 'AM Ghent' has been claimed on police bail on Feb 25 and has been accused of two crimes: allowing the spillage of oil in port waters and damaging the breeding place of an animal of a protected European species. For both, he will appear on Feb 26 morning at the Peñón Magistrates Court. The investigation has been carried out in conjunction with the Gibraltar Port Authority, the Gibraltar Maritime Administration and the Department of the Environment. Initially, the Government of Gibraltar reported that the spill was caused by the failure of one of the ventilation valves of the 'AM Ghent', which led the Gibraltar port authority to activate its anti-pollution plan. The fuel spill spread over a large part of the waters of the Bay of Algeciras. The Government of El Peñón reported in the afternoon in a statement that the spill was notified at 6:50 a.m. on Feb 12. The authorities did not alert the Spanish authorities until 11 a.m., more than four hours later. This fact prevented the containment barriers from being deployed earlier by the Captaincy of the Port of Algeciras and Salvamento Marítimo. Later two Royal Navy vessels subjected to the 'Salvamar Denébola', when it tried to contain the spill. A call from the port captain of Gibraltar mediated with the Royal Navy commands to stop the harassment of the Spanish civil vessels, which was finally able to place a barrier to contain the spill from the La Línea dock, on the border with the Peñón, which prevented the fuel from reaching the Spanish coast.

Bulk carrier detained for oil spill

Gibraltar was working to contain and clean up an oil split believed to have come from the 'AM Ghent' that was fueling in the anchorage. The government of Gibraltar has detained the vessel until they are satisfied that the owners take full responsibility for the incident. The spill happened on Feb 12 as the 'AM Ghent' was fueling in British waters on the Gibraltar side of the bay. A venting value failed during the operation causing an undetermined amount of fuel to enter the bay. The ship had arrived in Gibraltar the prior day from Taranto and remained on the anchorage west as of Feb 17. The government was considering all options to seek full recovery for the costs including not ruling out prosecution under the provisions of the Port Rules. The Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) in conjunction with other agencies and with assistance from the private sector has been working to clean up the oil spill. Initially, they focused on redeploying assets to combat the oil, which was in the inner harbor, working to collect all the free floating oil. The effort was expanded to retrieving oil and debris, any stagnant fuel patches around the harbor area. This week the teams have continued their clean up efforts collecting free floating oil from South mole corner, Small Boats Marina, Western arm, Rosia bay and other small isolated patches in the inner harbor. As they have been able to contain and remove the free floating oil, they have also started on cleaning elements including quay walls and property damaged by this spill. The government assured residents that this will continue until all oil is recovered and the coast line is fully restored.