Cruise ship sinking: salvage firm standing by to pump out fuel

THE salvage firm tasked with removing half a million gallons of fuel from the stricken vessel said there was no evidence of a fuel leak and that the operation would take between two to four weeks to safely remove the oil.

Salvagers said the search operation for the missing 29 people has priority and a survey of the ship must take place before the extraction begins. However, officials said the two operations can go on in tandem and the fuel extraction operation could begin shortly if approved by Italian officials.

Smit, a Netherlands-based salvage company, said no fuel had leaked from any of the ship’s tanks and that the tanks appeared intact. While there is a risk the ship could shift in larger waves, so far it has been relatively stable perched on top of rocks near Giglio’s port.

Smit’s operations manager, Kees van Essen, said the company was confident the fuel could safely be extracted using pumps and valves to vacuum the oil out to waiting tanks.

However, he added: “But there are always environmental risks in these types of operations.”

The company said that preliminary phases of the fuel extraction could begin as early as today if approved by Italian officials.