IMO regional pollution centre assists Greece oil spill clean up
The IMO-administered Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) is assisting in cleaning up beaches in Greece affected by the oil spill following the sinking of Agia Zoni II.
The oil tanker, carrying a Greek flag, sank off Piraeus, Greece, on 10 September 2017, with a cargo of 2,200 tons of fuel oil and 370 tons of marine gas oil onboard, causing a major marine pollution to many beaches near Piraeus.
For this reason, and after Greece’s request, two experts are in the country from 8 to 14 October, in order to give technical support on sunken oil assessment, removal techniques and efficient oil removal from sandy beaches.
The experts are from the Centre of Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution (Cedre) based in Brest, France, and from the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) based in Rome, Italy.
Both centres are members of the Mediterranean Assistance Unit (MAU), which was established in 1993 and can be mobilized by REMPEC to assist in the event of an emergency situation. The MAU was established by the Parties to the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean.
