Antarctic Oil Leak

Just what we DON'T want to hear

Wrecked ship spilling oil in Antarctica

A wrecked Brazilian ship is trapped in ice and spilling fuel in Antarctica, with no hopes of containing the damage until the long South Pole winter eases in October.

NZ Herald,

10 May, 2012

The "Endless Sea" capsized and sank in 12 meters of water last month near where Chile and Brazil have navy bases. The crew was rescued without injury, but poor weather kept them from diving below to check the damage until Wednesday.

The ship carried about 8000 litres of oil but Veronica Vallejos of the Chilean Antarctic Institute tells The Associated Press that the extent of the spill is unknown.

The worst Antarctic spill to date was in 2007, when a tourist ship went down with nearly 216,000 litres of fuel.