Wreck to remain 'until autumn'

by Samuel Smith BBC News Online

The sunken freighter Tricolor could remain a hazard in the Channel until the early autumn, it has emerged.

Smit Salvage, the firm charged with stabilising the wreck, said bad weather and the ship's size had put back plans.

It had been hoped to remove the Tricolor from one of the world's busiest shipping lanes by May.

Owners of vessels such as the Tricolor, which sink and pose an oil spill hazard should have to remove such wrecks more rapidly

Clairie Papazoglou, BirdLife

Since it submerged in December, following a collision, three separate boats have hit the wreck.

The latest, a week ago, has resulted in an oil slick washing ashore on the Dutch and Belgian coast - coating more than 4,000 birds.

Environmental groups have reacted with outrage at the continued delays to the salvage operation.

Clairie Papazoglou, acting head of the BirdLife European Community Office in Brussels, said: "The Tricolor has been involved in three more accidents since it sank in December.

"Since then it has been a constant hazard to navigation.

"Owners of vessels such as the Tricolor which sink and pose an oil spill hazard should have to remove such wrecks more rapidly.

"If the EU Environmental Liability Directive covered such situations, the owners of the Tricolor would be liable for the damage to the Belgian and Dutch coastal environments."

Broken up

Lars Walder, from Smit Salvage, told BBC News Online it could be "August or September" before the Tricolor was recovered.

He said: "We have not been awarded the final contract to do this but we estimate it could take that long.

"She is extremely big and weighs a lot.

"She is only just submerged so as soon as you start lifting she comes out of the water and becomes even heavier."

Threatened coastline

14 Dec: Tricolor and Kariba collide in heavy fog, sinking the former

15 Dec: Cargo ship NSD Provider comes within 500 m of wreck

16 Dec: Freighter Nicola runs into swamped ship

1 Jan: So too does fuel tanker Vicky

23 Jan: Tug boat Alphonse Letzer collision

As a result, the ship will have to be broken into pieces before being shipped away.

Stephen Varley, from the UK's Maritime Coastguard Agency, said the French and Belgian authorities were setting up a temporary radar system, based in Nieuport, Belgium, to provide the Tricolor with extra protection.

The system is being put in place until September - an indication of how long the authorities believe the salvage operation will take.

Mr Varley said: "It is an extremely busy area and if it is to be there in summer then there is an increase in ferry traffic, particularly to Zeebrugge.

"It would have been good to have had it cleaned up sooner but if this is the safest way then so be it."

Meanwhile, the French and Belgian authorities continue to work tirelessly in an effort to contain the slick released in last week's collision with the Tricolor.

Tug boat, the Alphonse Letzer, hit the wreck, cracking open one of its fuel tanks.

UK safe

It is still unclear how much oil was released, although, earlier this week UK Coastguard said there were reports of a slick "nine miles long".

While the UK coastline is not under threat, around 4,000 oil-covered birds - mostly Guillemots - have already washed ashore on the Belgian coast.

Floating buffers have been used in an effort to resist oil along Belgium's 66-km (40-mile) coast.

Such is the volume of oil, however, that authorities are also believed to be investigating whether there is another source, apart from the Tricolor.

The Tricolor has been a shipping hazard since it collided with the Kariba on 14 December.

It was carrying 2,000 tonnes of fuel when it went over on its side with more than 2,850 new BMW, Volvo and Saab cars.

The cargo ship Nicola then hit the Tricolor two days later, followed by another collision, by the Vicky, at the start of January.