Oil Spill From Sunken Trawler Contained

Spanish authorities have announced that remediation work on the sunken trawler Oleg Naydenov has been completed.

The Naydenov sank some 15 nm off Punta Maspalomas in the Canary Islands early this year. She caught fire at berth in Reina Sofia, and after attempting to combat the fire without success, authorities towed her offshore due to fears that she posed a risk of explosion or pollution in port. At sea the fire subsided and her list remained constant, but she sank three days after the conflagration broke out.

Authorities had hoped that the majority of her 1500 tons of fuel had burned in the blaze, but satellite monitoring of the site showed a slick on the surface in the days following her sinking.

Salvage company Ardent was contracted to contain the leaking oil, and working with ROV operator Oceaneering and Spanish salvage authorities SASEMAR, the salvors removed some 500 cubic meters of oily wastes.

The Naydenov went down in nearly 3,000 meters of water, far more than the limit for human divers. The effort employed three ROVs to cut open tank penetrations and pump oily waste into containment vessels. Surface support ships lifted full vessels to the surface for disposal. Afterward, known leaks were stopped up with mechanical and chemical means.

Additionally the salvors installed capping domes over areas where leaks had been detected to contain any further spillage.

Before her sinking, the Oleg Naydenov was implicated in illegal fishing activities off Senegal, according to environmental watchdog groups.