Is it going to be an ecological disaster? Only time will tell, but Smit seems confident that it won’t be. The company has installed a double boom to contain any oil that does escape, and there is also an oil removal ship on the scene. These precautions were requested by the Italian authorities, but the company does not expect to need them. The fact that the fuel is stored in many small tanks, rather than one big one, also reduces the risk of a major spill. Smit will pump only a small number of tanks, possibly just one, at a time. That means if anything goes wrong, only a fraction of the fuel could escape. Kinner says that although the ship’s location so close to shore increases the risks, it also makes the salvage operation easier. “It’s bad,” she says, “but there are things that make it easier.
Will the Costa Concordia become an oil-spill disaster? - environment - 25 January 2012 - New Scientist
