Reefer Spills Oil in Greece, Two Crew Detained

Maestro Shipping The Greek Coast Guard detained the captain and first engineer of the Marshall Islands-flagged reefer Ice Glacier in Keratsini, Athens on Wednesday, September 27, following an oil spill. Around 70 square meters of fuel leaked into the sea from the ship during a refueling operation, the Coast Guard said. The ships crew are said to have launched decontamination activities immediately after the spill with the assistance of a private anti-pollution company. The Coast Guard has asked for a letter of guarantee from the ship’s manager to cover the fine which will be imposed for the incident. The 1988-built 14,933 DWT reefer is part of Switzerland-based Maestro Shippings fleet. An investigation into the case is ongoing. The relatively small spill comes on the heels of Agia Zoni II oil spill earlier this month. That ship, which sank on September 10 near the Port of Piraeus, was loaded with 2,200 tons of fuel oil and 370 tons of marine gas oil when it started sinking. Operations on removing the oil that reached Athens coastline remain underway. Pumping out of fuel cargo from the shipwreck was reportedly completed this morning. Two tankers Aegean Breeze 1 and the Siros were hired to remove the residual fuel from the wreck. The move followed the arrest of a previously dispatched vessel to the scene-the Lassea, whose captain, and 1st engineer were arrested on the grounds of fuel smuggling. According to the latest update from the local media, the captain was given a two-year suspended sentence in Piraeus on Thursday, while the 1st engineer was found innocent. World Maritime News Staff