Advertising Read more Rennes (France) (AFP) An Italian cargo ship sank about 330 kilometres (200 miles) off the western Atlantic coast of France on Tuesday after rescue vessels were unable to put out a fire that broke out late Sunday, officials said. All 27 people aboard the "Grande America" were rescued without injury on Monday night. The ship was on its way from Hamburg, Germany, to Casablanca in Morocco before the blaze, "which intensified over the past 24 hours," French naval authorities said on Twitter. "The ship had been listing increasingly to the right as time went on," it added. French Environment Minister Francois de Rugy told lawmakers in Paris on Tuesday that officials still did not know what the ship was transporting, but that anti-pollution measures were already being taken. "As always in these situations, there are pollution risks, we can't deny it, because already there was the heavy fuel used for the engine," de Rugy said. A first tugboat to reach the ship was unable to extinguish the fire, and two others were on their way to the site Tuesday when the ship sank in waters that are about 4,600 meters (15,000 feet) deep. ? 2019 AFP<doc-sep>Loic Bernardin / Marine Nationale / AFP | Handout photo released March 12, 2019 by the French Marine Nationale shows flames on the Grande America off France’s western coast. A second sheet of oil from an Italian cargo ship that sank in the Atlantic was heading towards the French coastline, environment minister François de Rugy revealed Thursday. The ship was carrying 45 containers of "dangerous materials". Advertising Read more Two sheets of oil from the "Grande America" cargo ship that sank Tuesday were heading for the French coastline, according to authorities. During a press conference in Brest on Thursday, French environment minister François de Rugy said a second sheet of oil from the same wreck had been observed on Thursday morning. The first sheet, which is compact in appearance, is 13 km long and seven km wide, while the second, more disjointed, is nine km long and seven km wide, Atlantic maritime prefecture spokesman Riaz Akhoune said Thursday, adding that they lie about 20 km apart. The oil could hit parts of the country's southwest region near the port city of Bordeaux this weekend. "According to our forecasts, fragments could reach some areas of the coast in Nouvelle-Aquitaine by Sunday or Monday owing to bad weather, which also risks making the anti-pollution operation more difficult," de Rugy said Wednesday. France will deploy four ships to help battle the oil slick at sea and will prepare for a clean-up operation on land, he added. The Grande America was en route from Hamburg in Germany to Casablanca in Morocco when a fire broke out late on Sunday. All 27 people on board were evacuated the following day as the fire worsened, before the ship sank some 300 km west of the town of La Rochelle on Tuesday. "For now the possible pollution risk consists mainly of the 2,200 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board," Jean-Louis Lozier, head of the regional maritime authority, told reporters in Brest on France's Brittany coast. Lozier said the hybrid ship's Italian owner Grimaldi had indicated that 365 shipping containers were onboard, "of which 45 are carrying dangerous materials", as well as around 2,000 vehicles. The fire is thought to have broken out on the car deck before spreading to a container, however the cause is unknown, Lozier said. "Around forty containers fell into the sea before the ship sank," he said. "Most of them were badly damaged by the fire." The contents include a hundred tonnes of hydrochloric acid and 70 tonnes of sulphuric acid. The pollution risk posed by the chemicals "would be very localised", Lozier said, adding most of it would have already burned in the fire. "Dilution in the ocean would not have serious consequences for the environment." But French environmental campaign group Robin des Bois (Robin Hood) said the group intends to file a complaint at Brest district court over the environmental damage. "Two thousand vehicles -- it's a car crash at the bottom of the sea, representing hundreds of tonnes of toxic materials in an area very rich in fish, plankton and marine animals," said Jacky Bonnemains, spokesman for the NGO, adding he also feared possible coastal pollution. Local authorities have opened an investigation and the ship's owner has been warned to "take all necessary measures to contribute to the fight against pollution", the environment minister said. (FRANCE 24 with AFP) Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning Subscribe<doc-sep>
French authorities are rushing to stop an oil spill from reaching the country's west coast after an Italian-registered cargo ship sank in the Bay of Biscay. Although the government's initial statement only said there had been "dangerous materials" on board the ill-fated Grande America, local officials told French news agency Agence France-Presse that the vessel was leaking oil. The ship had been en route from Hamburg to Casablanca, carrying 2,000 vehicles and 2,200 tons of fuel, when a fire broke out late Sunday. The 26 crew members and single passenger were forced to abandon ship and were rescued by Britain's Royal Navy. 'Like a cork in a bathtub' The lifeboat was "bobbing around like a cork in a bathtub," HMS Argyll officer Lieutenant Commander Dave Tetchner was quoted as saying in a news story on the Royal Navy's website. "The conditions were horrendous — the vessels were rolling at 30 degrees, which made it extremely hairy getting the sailors safely on board," he said. The drifting ship, still in flames, finally sank on Tuesday about 180 nautical miles (333 kilometers) west of France. Vice Admiral Jean-Louis Lozier, France's maritime prefect for the Atlantic, said the Italian shipping company Grimaldi Group had been ordered to ensure that no toxic materials reached the French mainland. Overnight on Wednesday, the French navy reportedly discovered an oil spill several kilometers long. In a statement, Grimaldi has said it was working with French authorities to prevent any damage to the environment. es/cmk (AFP, dpa) Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.