A Korean man has been charged for court following an oil spill in the Bay of Gibraltar earlier this month.

Last Friday evening (18 August) at New Mole House, Kim Sangsob, 56, the Captain of the tanker the Gas Venus, was charged with one count of Discharge Into Or Allows Escaping Into, British Gibraltar Territorial Waters Oil Of Any Description and one count of Damaging A Resting Place Of A Wild Animal Of A European Protected Species.

It followed an incident on the morning of Tuesday 1 August this month, as the tanker took on fuel a short distance from the South Mole.

The spill was of heavy fuel oil, which is used to power ship engines. Some of the oil washed ashore in Gibraltar, causing the temporary closure of Camp Bay and Rosia Bay.

The Captain was charged following an investigation by Royal Gibraltar Police Marine Section officers, with assistance from the Gibraltar Port Authority and the Department of the Environment.

Sangsob was bailed and will appear before the Magistrate’s Court this morning (21 August).