Antigua flagged cargo vessel detained by Spanish Authorities over oil spill, heavy fine imposed `

Antigua and Barbuda: The authorities of Spain have detained a cargo ship operated by a German company following a fuel spill that took place during a refuelling operation near the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Spain’s Merchant Fleet on Monday.

The ship, Tony Stark flagged under Antigua and Barbuda is being held in port on Africa’s northern coast. As per the details, the authorities have imposed a monetary fine on the vessel and have been asked to not leave the port. The authorities shared that the vessel will be released only if they pay the fine amount of 120,000 euros ($130,524). The German operator of the Tony Stark, Nauticore Shipping has not yet commented on the incident.

Tony Stark is an Antigua Barbuda-flagged general cargo vessel. The 1993-built vessel is managed by Nauticore Shipping GMBH & CO, Germany. As per the data shared by Marine Traffic, the vessel departed from Bilbao on 14 July having the Italian port of Manfredonia as her destination, and is currently at CEUTA Anchorage.

Also, in the last week, fuel oil trails were observed in front of Benitez Beach, the port’s breakwaters, and San Amaro Beach in Ceuta, located in the Alboran Sea. They also passed a separate statement where the Merchant Fleet estimated that approximately one metric ton of fuel has been split.

The Merchant Fleet stated that it has initiated a disciplinary process in order to determine the final penalty. Also, in a separate incident, three beaches near Valencia were closed in the last week because of a fuel spill that covered a 2 kilometre stretch of sand. The cause of the spill has still not been identified yet.

Following this incident, the netizens reacted on this incident and shared their views through their comments. One person with Facebook account Maricia Barry commented “All what they doing is try to put the Caribbean in their nonsense you all had find a sunken corgi with Antigua and Barbuda flag on it they just looking for ways to bring their war in our region.”

Another person commented the following “I believe there should be a penalty as well for staining Antigua and Barbuda’s name.”