The OS 35 Recovery Coordination Group Chair, the Minister for the Port Vijay Daryanani, together with the Captain of the Port briefed the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo in person at noon today at No6 Convent Place. The Minister for Environment, Prof John Cortes, and some representatives and stakeholder departments and agencies were in attendance for the briefing.

SITUATION UPDATE

The Captain of the Port has advised that there has been no significant developments and the situation continues stable onboard.

Overnight a total of 800 litres of grease and paint from the steering gear room were removed from the OS 35 vessel.

Pumping of the vessels tanks will continue throughout the day until mostly water is being pumped from tanks.

The cleaning of oil from the vessel and surrounding area will continue, with skimming  operations taking place within the double boom containment zone.

 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

The situation at the beaches continues to be reviewed daily.

The red flag is to remain in place at Little Bay whilst clean-up efforts continue. The affected beaches show marked improvements from yesterday, especially Sandy Bay.

The Little Bay shoreline clean-up efforts continue. The boom in Camp Bay has been tightened as an extra precaution should the weather worsen. 

The Europa Point foreshore is showing signs of oil and sheen in the smaller rock pools.  This will be tackled in coming days.

PORT OPERATIONS

The Captain of the Port has been constantly evaluating and reviewing the reopening of the Port for normal operations. The Port Authority has advised that bunkering operations within BGTW can commence with effect from 18:00 hours today, as the Captain of the Port is satisfied that the same capabilities as usual are now available to the Port.

The Minister for the Port and the Captain of the Port will provide a further update to the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, later this evening.

ENDS