West Cork Oil Spill - Discovery

Discovery

On 14 February 2009, the Irish Coast Guard received a European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) satellite surveillance report indicating the presence of pollution off the south coast of Ireland. The Coast Guard dispatched an Irish Air Corps CASA CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft to investigate which confirmed the presence of oil on the surface of the sea around a Russian Navy oil tanker and the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. The spill was located in international waters 80 km (50 mi) south of Fastnet Rock, Ireland's most southwesterly point, and spread over an area measuring 6.4 km (4 mi) by 8 km (5 mi).

On 16 February, the Russian naval attaché in Ireland confirmed that the carrier had been carrying out replenishment of fuel at sea from a Russian supply tanker. The attaché confirmed an internal investigation is being carried out into the cause of the incident and said that Russian aerial surveillance considered that approximately 300 tonnes of oil was on the sea surface but could not tell how this happened or whether it was from their refuelling operations. The Russian Navy offered no explanation for the presence of the oil but began an internal investigation into the matter. Admiral Korolev, the commander of the Russian ships has stated that the refuelling proceeded in a routine manner and that there had been no leaks. The Russian Navy says that it is willing to share data in an attempt to identify the origin of the spill which it says is "not catastrophic in nature and does not present a threat to the coastal environment". The Admiral Kuznetsov is normally accompanied by at least one ocean-going tug in case of breakdown. On this occasion, she was also accompanied by the Russian destroyer Admiral Chabanenko. The carrier was en route to its home port following exercises in the Mediterranean Sea where, on 6 January, it suffered a fire which resulted in the death of one sailor.

The British Coastguard initially estimated the quantity of oil spilled as around 1,000 tonnes, later revised down to 522 and then to 300 tonnes, a figure with which the Irish Department of Transport agreed. If the original 1,000 tonnes estimate was proven accurate then this oil spill would be the biggest to have affected Great Britain and Ireland since the Sea Empress ran aground near Milford Haven in 1996.