Greenpeace Urges Spain to Extract Fuel From Russian Sunken Trawler

Greenpeace called on the Spanish Development Ministry to extract thick fuel oil from the Russian trawler Oleg Naidenov, which sank 15 nautical miles off the coast of the Canary Islands after catching fire over the weekend.

MADRID (Sputnik) — Greenpeace on Thursday called on the Spanish Development Ministry to extract about 1,400 metric tons of thick fuel oil from the Russian trawler Oleg Naidenov to avoid a possible fuel leakage that could pose a threat to environment.

On Tuesday, the Oleg Naidenov trawler sank 15 nautical miles off the coast of the Canary Islands after catching fire over the weekend. The entire crew was rescued with no injuries reported.

"Greenpeace demands that the Development Ministry provides information on the plan for pumping fuel from the vessel and describes in detail the situation with the [sunken] trawler," a statement on the international environmental organization's website read.

The remark by Greenpeace was made following the visit of Spain's development minister, Ana Pastor, to the south of Gran Canaria island to oversee oil spill monitoring efforts.

Some oil slicks have already been spotted drifting south-west and away from the island, according to Spain's Development Ministry.

Earlier in the week, Spanish National Television confirmed the ministry's claims, showing an image of a slick about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) long.