The Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) on Sunday (local time) initiated a salvage operation for the Norwegian-flagged landing craft 'Soroysund', which had to be stopped midway due to concerns of an oil spill.
The Soroysund ran aground on Saturday in Tjeldsund, which is a part of Norway's Troms county, as per an NRK report. No one onboard was injured.
However, this was said to have damaged the hull, and led to the leakage of approximately 4,000 litres of diesel, Roger Berg-Nadden, fire chief in Evenes and Tjeldsund, said, as per a Harstad Tidende report. The vessel had been carrying roughly 27,000 litres of diesel.
“We are pumping diesel from the ship into tanks that hold a thousand litres,” Berg-Nadden told NRK.
Drone images reportedly show a bluish glow around the vessel, with multiple people from nearby areas in Fjelldal and Evenskjer complaining of a diesel smell in the air.
2 Marine AS (the vessel's owner) general manager Askild Aspaas-Hagen said that the Soroysund's hull had been repaired by Sunday evening.
Aspaas-Hagen added that work was still going on in emptying its fuel tank, for which their team was aided by the Norwegian Coastal Administration, as well as other emergency response teams. Absorbent booms are also being used to minimise the impact of the diesel spill.
While the oil spill has not been categorised as a disaster yet, bad weather conditions are likely to worsen the issue, because strong currents could carry the spilt diesel further into the sea, causing serious ecological damage.
In fact, it is these strong currents—in addition to the oil spill—that have already impeded efforts at evacuating the crew onboard and emptying the fuel tank of the Soroysund. The evacuation will be attempted again on Monday, after which the plan is for the vessel to be docked at Harstad.
