Oily seas
WITH yet another, oil spill, this time off the coast of south Wales in the UK, the world's oceans may soon contain more oil rather than water! The recent Oil spill occured when an oil tanker - Sea Empress - ran aground ds it was enter- ing the estuary at Milford Haven, West Wales, spilling nearly 6,000 tonnes (t) of oil into the sea on February 15.
Massive anti-pollution measures were immediately enforced to contain the spillage which included dropping of booms and specialised air crafts with spraying equipment. While there were no human @asualties, sea bird colonies and the grey seal population in the islands of Skokholm and Skomer, situated close to the site of the accident, could be imperilled.
A total of 140,000 t of North Sea oil was aboard the tanker when the mishap took place. Several stor rage tanks took the impact which resulted in their breaching.