The Gibraltar Port Authority initiated an oil spill contingency plan together with the Department of Environment following an oil spill at the bay of Gibraltar earlier this morning.

The Port Authority called off all port operations to ensure every asset was available to help combat the spillage and tackle the incident as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Quantifying the amount of oil released into the bay is not currently the main priority as this can be misrepresented at this stage of the clean-up process. This data will be gathered throughout and the final figures will be made available once the clean-up operations have been concluded.

Early indications that the impact of the oil spill has been limited to the area of Camp Bay and Rosia Bay and its immediate vicinity have been confirmed by drone footage obtained this morning, and by a Spanish helicopter overflight this afternoon.

There have not been any sightings of any free floating streaks of oil moving away from this area, however this is being continuously monitored and may change with the tides.

Operations will continue in a limited manner overnight and will resume in earnest tomorrow morning.

Further updates will be provided as information becomes available.

ENDS