Costa Concordia Spill Disaster Hazard
2012-01-16 15:28:44 - Spill International
On Friday evening, 13th December 2012, the cruise liner Costa Concordia grounded just off the Italian island of Giglio after hitting underwater rocks. The ship is not stable, and it moved on Monday, 16th January 2012. The risk is that it will sink to 100m depth. Since the Costa Concordia is carrying a substantial amount of fuel, there is a realistic threat of a spill.
Any spill would be a serious occurrence since the fuel could sink into the soil of the seabed. The area is also a popular tourist destination, especially for divers.
Oil spill boom has been put in place to contain oil and fuel that may leak out of the damaged vessel, although this has not happened so far.
The Costa Concordia is carrying approximately 500,000 gallons of fuel in 17 separate tanks.
On Monday evening, the risk of oil or fuel leaking from the Costa Concordia was said to have declined somewhat, providing the weather stays calm.
Image Courtesy: ANP/AFP.
