The Hellenic Coast Guard arrested the 59-year-old captain of a Malta-flagged tanker on Thursday afternoon following marine oil pollution in Drapetsona. According to the Coast Guard, the captain accepted responsibility for a spill covering about five square meters in Krakari Bay.
Coast Guard officers deployed a patrol boat and a pollution control vessel after detecting iridescent petroleum residues between the ship and the facility pier. The pollution was already contained within a floating absorbent boom when response teams arrived.
Oil spill cleanup and investigation
An inspection of the surrounding area outside the port of Piraeus revealed scattered oil slicks covering a total area of about 100 square meters near port expansion works. Private anti-pollution vessels joined the operation, using mechanical agitation to clean the water with satisfactory results, the Coast Guard said.
Investigators collected samples from the polluted areas and one of the ship tanks. The samples will be sent to the General Chemical State Laboratory for laboratory testing.
Authorities banned the vessel from sailing until a letter of guarantee is submitted. The preliminary investigation remains ongoing.
