TIRANA, May 24 – An oil spill has contaminated over five kilometers of beach shoreline in Vlora just days after the official start of the tourist season, while authorities have launched an investigation to determine whether the environmental disaster was an accident or man-made.
The discharge of oil occurred as the ship H Ismail Kaptanoglu, sailing under a Turkish flag, was moored at La Petrolifera Italo Albanese storage terminal, located in the bay of Vlora.
La Petrolifera announced that the accident came as a result of a ‘wrong maneuver’ by the ship causing an oil leak as it was being stocked with fuel, while it did ‘everything’ to control contamination.
However, the activity of the company has been temporarily suspended pending investigations.
Vlora vice mayor Ardian Musta said the company was fined €7,152 for the spill and that a cleanup operation had began.
Defense Minister Mimi Kodheli said that the country’s naval force had joined clean-up efforts, while the army was called in to help clean nearby Zverneci beach.
Meanwhile, the Environment Agency has begun collecting water samples to determine the level of pollution.
This week’s environmental disaster is not an isolated episode.
Foreign ships sometimes empty their oil tanks in Albanian waters because punishment and enforcement is lighter than in nearby countries.
A similar disaster ended up contaminating more than two kilometers of coastline in Durres last November.
Authorities launched a hunt to trace the culprits, but they were eventually never found.
