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Queensway Navigation tanker causes bitumen spill in Spain

Spanish authorities are demanding that Greece’s Queensway Navigation pay for a bitumen spill from one of its product tankers at Huelva Port.

Twenty tonnes of bitumen was spilled from the tanker Sunpower (5,000 dwt, built 2008) when one of its cargo tanks overflowed while in port on July 26.

Sunpower was detained by the port after authorities found its crew had failed to maintain the required procedures during cargo operations, which led to the spill. Further investigations into the incident are underway.

Queensway has been ordered to deposit sum of money sufficient to cover the cost of the spill clean-up and other associated costs. As well as undertaking commercial management of the vessel, Queensway is also its ISM manager for compliance with the International Safety Management Code, according to Equasis.

The Panama-flagged vessel will be released from detention after the money has been received and the clean-up operation has been completed.

The port has deployed emergency anti-pollution measures and has surrounded the leaking vessel with oil booms to contain the spill.

Holly Birkett

Holly is Splash's Online Editor and correspondent for the UK and Mediterranean. She has been a maritime journalist since 2010, and has written for and edited several trade publications. She is currently studying for membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. In 2013, Holly won the Seahorse Club's Social Media Journalist of the Year award. She is currently based in London.
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