Oil spills

The conservative opposition has attacked the government for failing to take quick action in the wake of an oil spill that hit the shores of Salamina island, near Athens.

Clean-up crews were scrambling Tuesday to contain the spread of an oil slick on the island of Salamina, near Athens, caused by a small tanker that sank over the weekend in the Saronic Gulf.

Workers try to clean up a beach on the island of Salamina, which has been hit by an oil slick after a small tanker went down near its coast on Sunday carrying 2,200 tons of fuel oil and 370 tons of marine gas oil. [Petros Giannakouris/AP]

Greece's merchant marine minister says clean-up crews are working to contain pollution caused by a small tanker that sank over the weekend off a Greek island.

Authorities on the island of Salamina in the Saronic Gulf said on Monday that an oil spill off the island's eastern coast is spreading and has become "an environmental disaster."

Greek authorities say a cargo ship carrying vehicles has caught fire off the island of Rhodes but none of the 32 people on board are in immediate danger.

The Merchant Marine Ministry says the blaze broke out Thursday on the Cypriot-flagged Med Star as it was sailing two nautical miles off Rhodes in the Aegean Sea.

A major oil spill that occurred off the coast of Dilovası in the Gulf of İzmit on Jan. 12 has been cleaned up "to a great extent," according to Turkey's Environment Ministry.

Efforts to prevent the sea around Andros being polluted after a cargo vessel ran aground off the Cycladic island on December 24 are facing difficulty due to stormy weather in the area.

The Albanian authorities said on Monday that they have not yet been able to identify the ship that spilled the oil and polluted the popular beach in Durres. 

A massive fuel oil spill has been spotted near Bulgaria's Black Sea city of Varna.

Employees of the yacht harbor in town have noticed the spill and started calling local institutions immediately. Several fo them have said that similar events are not uncommon.

The yacht harbor is located immediately next to the Ship Authority Port, where luxurious passenger ships anchor.