After the ‘Bow Jubail’ made contact with a jetty in the Port of Rotterdam on June 23, it ruptured the hull, spilling about 217 tons of heavy fuel oil (HFO). The port authority along with emergency services started mitigation measures and have a now cleaned a large amount of the oil spilled.
In order to prevent the expansion of the oil spill, the port installed oil booms around the vessel as quickly as possible. Until today, about 160 tonnes of of spilled oil have been cleared.
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However, the Port said that the remaining oil is expected to be cleared less quickly. After cleaning the port water and vessels, an operation to clean the contaminated jetties, slopes, banks and other port infrastructure will start. This is expected to take several weeks.
Moreover, an all day washing facility has been established to clean the contaminated vessels. 16 of the over 50 inland vessels have now been cleaned, as well as 4 of the 15 contaminated sea-going vessels. In addition, the collection and cleaning of infected birds is also taking place coordinated by Rijkswaterstaat.
Experts are expecting the clean-up operation to last weeks, after they carried out an inspection on the water. The findings from the inspection will be used to come up with an action plan for the oil-cleaning operation.
‘Bow Jubail’ has been towed from its original berth to a shipyard on the opposite side in the Botlek area.
