Oil Removed from Wrecked ‘Flinterstar’ Off Belgium

Dutch freighter Flinterstar is seen sinking after colliding with Marshall Island-flagged tanker Al-Oraiq, which also suffered damage in the collision, in the North Sea off the Belgian coast October 6, 2015. REUTERS/Benny Proot

Dutch shipowner Flinter announced Wednesday that all remaining heavy fuel oil has been successfully removed from the wreck of the MV Flinterstar more than three weeks after it collided with an LNG carrier off the Belgian coast.

The operation to remove the fuel has been ongoing since the freighter partially sank following the collision on October 6th. The Belgian Coast Guard estimated previously that 100 tons of oil was released from the vessel following the initial accident, threatening nearby nature preserves.

SMIT and Multraship were contracted to pump the remaining oil from the vessel, but the operation has been hampered by challenging weather conditions wreck site.

The 129-meter, approximately 9,000 DWT Flinterstar was built in 2002 and is flagged in the Netherlands. The vessel had just departed Antwerp bound for Bilbao, Spain when it collided with the LNG carrier Al-Oraiq about 6 miles (10 km) from the coast.

The Al-Oraiq was also damaged in the incident but made it to the nearby port of Zeebrugge to offload its cargo.

The MV Flinterstar has been declared a total loss.

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