Submerged Oil Slicks News

Erika Oil Washing Ashore Again

Oil believed to have seeped from the tanker Erika is washing ashore again 10 months after it sank off Brittany, officials said. They said that volunteers cleaning up the coast had reported oil pellets washing up on the island of Belle-Ile and along sections of the coast in the region of Le Croisic, south of Brittany, over the past week. The oil was believed to come from submerged oil slicks spotted by divers during the summer, and authorities feared current heavy seas would worsen the pollution. The Maltese-registered Erika broke in half in stormy seas on December 12 last year, spewing up to 15,000 tons of oil onto the rocky shoreline.