Two arrested after channel oil spill

The skipper and mate of a French fishing boat which collided with an oil tanker causing more than 70 tonnes of oil to spill into the English Channel have been arrested, the coastguard said today.

A coastguard spokesman said the men were now in custody in Boulogne after the French authorities met them at the port on their return.

The men were responsible for the fishing boat St Jacques II when it was in collision with the Maltese oil tanker Gudermes in the Dover Strait, the world’s busiest shipping lane.

It was feared that more than 100 tonnes of oil had spewed into the sea and that there was a danger of the pollution affecting the Kent coast.

But flights over the three-mile slick show that it appears to be breaking up and that there is less oil than first thought.

A 20ft by 6ft hole was ripped into the side of the tanker when the collision happened on Monday morning.

The 32,000 tonne tanker, which was carrying 26,000 tonnes of fuel and had 26 crew on board, was en route from Dover to Africa.

The remainder of the oil was transferred elsewhere in the vessel.

A coastguard spokesman said: ‘‘The master and mate have been arrested but in the meantime the maritime investigation branch will be carrying out their own investigation into the incident.

‘‘As for the slick there is still a question mark over it but nothing has appeared on any beach so we remain on stand by.’’

The fishing boat was undamaged and nobody was injured.