The remains appearing from the the yacht which sunk in waters near es Cap Martinet have generated alarm among the residents of the area, the Consell de Ibiza and the City Council of Santa Eulària, which are not hiding their anger at the management of the accident. In fact, the extent of the ecological pollution emergency since the ‘Aria SF’ capsized, has led the Consell to speak out and demand both the central administration and the Govern to get more involved in stopping the pollution.
Pollution in protected areas
In a press release, the maximum insular institution explained that the president, Vicent Marí, visited the area yesterday where the remains have arrived, “which affects two protected areas included in the group of sites of the Natura 2000 Network with the figures of CEC and ZEPA”, remarked the statement.
The president was accompanied by the Councilor for Environmental Management, Vicent Roig; the Consell’s Environment technician, Jaume Estarellas; the institution’s Fisheries technician, Toni Boix, as well as by “representatives of the fishermen of this area,” the Ibizan executive detailed.
VIEW GALLERY S’Estanyol, in Ibiza, covered with remains of the yacht burned in Formentera
The Consell assures that Marí verified the “large amount of remains that are reaching the nearby coasts, such as the beaches of Cala Roja and s’Estanyol“, and added that “the increasing dispersion of liquids polluting the area and of burned remains of the boat on the coast is generating great concern among the neighbors and visitors to the area”.
The communiqué also states that Marí has sent a letter to the Government delegate and another to the general director of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification. In the letters he has asked the Government Delegation “as the competent authority, to strengthen the tasks of marine and coastal containment that this incident may cause, while proceeding as soon as possible to the decontamination of all the pollutants dispersed in the area (fuel, oils and coolants), also proceeding to the removal of the solid remains of the burned ship,” specifies the Consell. It also requests that the General Directorate of Biodiversity of the Govern “coordinate the diagnosis of the damage caused to the seabed in the affected area in order to execute, if necessary, the measures to restore the environmental damage”.
Demands to the Ministry
In addition, Marí demands the Ministry of Ecological Transition that there is “a responsible person to take charge of these tasks to contain all the damages that the sinking of the yacht ‘Aria’ is causing”, considers that the Govern “cannot leave this yacht abandoned at the bottom of the sea”, and reiterates that “political leaders are needed to make the necessary efforts to prevent pollution in this delicate area of the coast of our island”.
Even more forceful was the City Council of Santa Eulària, whose mayor, Carmen Ferrer, asked in a press release “why a boat that began to burn two days before and several kilometers away ended up sinking off our coast”. Ferrer expressed her discomfort and surprise that the Consistory was not informed of “the situation and the dangers that it could entail”. In this sense, she wondered “why up to three different decisions were made about the fate of the vessel”.
Ibiza calls for political responsibility to prevent the pollution of the island’s waters from the ‘Aria SF’
The Consistory said it will ask for explanations to the Government Delegation, Salvamento Marítimo and the Capitanía Marítima, “to indicate the reasons why it could not prevent the boat from capsizing off the coast of the municipality, at very shallow depth with the danger it poses to waters declared a Special Area of Conservation and in the vicinity of bathing areas”.
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