A relevant shipping deputy minister on Thursday said two-thirds of the stored fuel oil in a sunken tanker has been pumped out, as a repercussions from an oil spill continue to impact both greater Athens area's seas and the country's volatile political scene.
Deputy Minister Nektarios Santorinios told a public radio station that 1,533 tons of mazut fuel oil has been pumped from the sunken Agia Zoni II tanker. The small tanker sank, while anchored in ideal weather conditions, in the early morning hours of Sept. 10 just off the island of Salamina, west of Athens proper.
He added that another tanker may approach the site where the Agia Zoni II lies on the shallow seabed to pump out more fuel oil. A previous vessel was intercepted a day earlier by the coast guard, with its skipper and chief engineer charged with smuggling after pumping mazut from the sunken tanker without proper documentation.
The unprecedented environmental damage, by Greek standards, from the oil spill in the Saronic Gulf, the coastline around Salamina, the major port of Piraeus and beaches extending southeast along the so-called "Athenian Riviera", has caused a major headache for the leftist-rightist coalition government.
The opposition and much of the media has accused the relevant shipping ministry and state services of misjudging the gravity of the maritime accident and delaying cleanup efforts.
Estimates have ranged from 300 to 800 tons of mazut oil leaking from the small tanker.
