The owner faces a fixed penalty of $720,000 to secure its release
A Latvian Shipping combination tanker was ordered to divert into Brest after a French spotter plane observed a trail of oil approximately 4 km long emanating from the vessel of the coast of Brittany.
The owner faces a fixed penalty of 500,000 ($720,000) to secure its release. The 2003-built, 37,261 dwt, Marshall Islands-registered Kaltene left Donges and was heading for Milford Haven in the UK. A spokesman for the Atlantic prefecture said:
On sight of the photographic proof transmitted by the customs aircraft, the prosecuting attorney decided to divert the ship, suspected of voluntary pollution, to Brest.