On January 19th a cruise ship, Costa Concordia, carrying 2400 tonnes of diesel and oil ran aground and capsized off the coast of Italy. This is around the same amount of oil that one would expect to find on a small oil tanker. This is located right next to one of the most renowned maritime reserves in the Mediterranean. It is currently lying on its side on the shelf right off shore. 11 people were killed and 21 are still missing 7 days later. This is the worst accident of this kind around Italy since 1991 when the Amoco Milford Haven sunk- an oil spill that they only finished cleaning up in 2008. There are fears that the ship might slip off the shelf causing more leakage into the water resulting in another lengthy and expensive clean-up. For now however, the tanks appear to be intact so there is hope that this accident will not result in the destruction of the marine life and coral that reside in this area. Leakage would not only kill many of the species but it would hurt the the economy of Giglio Island which draws in many divers to observe its 700 or more botanical and animal species, including turtles, dolphins and seals.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/43886
Good posting. Put the URL (at the end) in a link.