How dangerous is the fuel on the tanker?
Experts said the jet fuel on board the Stena was extremely toxic to marine life and highly volatile, meaning its lifespan in the environment would be shorter than heavier forms of oil such as crude. Anti-pollution crews will use foam to mop the oil from the sea.
Jet fuel “has minimal environmental impacts when it leaks, because it will either ignite and burn, or evaporate,” said Andy Teasdale, a marine safety advisor to the Institute of Marine Science, Engineering and Technology.
However, jet fuel is “50 times more toxic to aquatic life than diesel oil, which in turn is more toxic than crude oil,” said Alastair Grant, emeritus professor of ecology at the University of East Anglia.
This means that “it will have an acute effect on organisms in the immediate aftermath of the spill and [will] lead to various degrees of stress in exposed animals,” said Heriot-Watt University marine ecotoxicologist Mark Hartl.
Moreover, Teasdale said, it was still unknown what fuel both ships were carrying to power their own engines. “If the vessel sinks or tanks are breached, then the bunkered fuel may leak out and start to produce pollution,” he said.
What was the cargo ship carrying?
Kane said the government had yet to confirm reports that the Solong was carrying 15 containers of highly toxic sodium cyanide. The German owner of the Solong, Ernst Russ AG, said the containers had been emptied.
