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OS 35 UPDATE – VESSEL SETTLING ON SEABED - 674/2022

September 16, 2022

The Captain of the Port has updated the OS 35 Recovery Coordination Group, chaired by Minister for the Port Hon Vijay Daryanani MP, via video link this afternoon. The Captain of the Port has confirmed that the Salvor’s operation, approved by the GPA, to lower the aft of vessel is going as planned.As a result, the OS 35 will settle overnight securely on the sandy sea bed, putting it in the best position to withstand adverse weather conditions and for recovery operations going forward. The Department of the Environment continue to work daily with the GPA and OSRL on shoreline assessments. Some tar balls were reported at Catalan Bay this afternoon and a team is currently on site to collect them and clean up the area. The booms currently surrounding the vessel will be removed tomorrow, in order to allow any residues that escape as part of the settling process of the vessel to be contained and collected as far as possible. The booms at beaches have already been removed. Removing the booms will prevent them from becoming damaged, and themselves becoming a source of pollution, in the easterly swells that are forecast for the coming days.

The Gibraltar Port Authority, together with the Department of the Environment, will continue to monitor the vessel constantly with a view to facilitate any further necessary clean up operations as soon as it is safe and possible to do so.