Tanker fined for illegal oil discharge near Spain

The Spanish transport authority has retained the Malta-flagged tanker Lagertha for illegally disposing of oil in the open seas by Spain.

PHOTO: An image taken by a Spanish maritime rescue plane showing the oil strain from Lagertha. Spanish transport authority

The incident was reported on 11 February, after a Spanish maritime rescue plane detected oil streaming out from Lagertha stern during routine patrolling of the area. The oil discharge stretched over an area of 13 square kilometres and was also picked up visually by the radar of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) satellite, the Spanish transport authority said.

The authorities later detained the Lagertha during its port call in Spain’s Tarragona port on charges of “illegally unloading” oil in open seas. The shipowner is obligated to pay €100,000 ($106,000) to get the vessel released.

The Spanish transport authority has ramped up measures to detect illegal offloading of oil in open seas. In 2021, the authority fined the tanker Aldan with €550,000 ($585,000) for illegally offloading oil off La Palma, which stretched across an area of 55 square kilometres.

By Nithin Chandran

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