Fuel Transfer from Lysblink Seaways Set for Today

zoom The ship to ship transfer of the fuel oil from the DFDS general cargo ship Lysblink Seaways, which went aground on February 18th, looks set to begin sometime today morning, the UK Coastguard updates. Better weather conditions mean there is a window to do this work between 3am and midday today. In total 153 tons of fuel will be pumped from the Lysblink Seaways onto the tug Kingdom of Fife. The wind is expected to moderate which means there is an opportunity to carry out this work. The emergency pumping operation will only begin when we are satisfied it is safe to do so and we will be monitoring it continuously, says Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage & Intervention. A small oil leak was detected from the vessels starboard after the grounding, which the coastguard described as  an egg cup in volume as it has created a light sheen of about 2m by 2m.  Contractors have deployed a sorbent boom to capture any subsequent releases of oil. Lysblink Seaways self-floated from the foreshore at Kilchoan shortly before 9 pm on Thursday 19 February. The vessel was towed back out to sea on Sunday, February 22nd as part of contingency plan to stabilize the vessel as increased wind caused it to drag her anchor. According to UK Coastguard’s Sunday report, the vessel was stable and at anchor 1.5 miles east of Kilchoan in Mingary Bay with her 9 crew on board. The Temporary Exclusion Zone of 200 metres remains in place.