An oil tanker and cargo ship were in collision today, producing a huge slick of some 1,900 tonnes of oil that threatened to pollute Denmark's Baltic coast.
"It's probably the biggest sea pollution registered hitherto in Danish waters," said Danish naval officer Mr Jens Hylsted.
The collision happened between the Cypriot-registered, 34-tonne-cargo ship Teanand the 35,000-tonne tanker Baltic Carrier, registered in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific and carrying 30,000 tonnes of oil.
Four Danish ships, a specialised German boat for fighting sea pollution, and a Swedish coastguard cutter were rushing to the scene.
The officer said the slick - up to 20 kilometres long - would reach the southern coast of the Danish island of Moen by the end of today if those ships did not contain it.
The collision happened around midnight on the dividing line between Danish and German territorial waters, some 16 miles south-east of Moen and the island of Falster.
The causes of the collision were not immediately known. The Danish officer said there was a 20-square metre gash in the forward section of the tanker through which the oil leaked.
It was estimated that some 20 per cent would evaporate before reaching any beaches.
AFP