Updated 21.20 | Published 21.18
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full screen The picture shows another of Greenland’s fjords. Archive image. Photo: Keith Virgo/AP/TT
Emergency services are struggling Friday to contain a fuel leak after a ship sank off the coast of Greenland, according to police.
The ship, which sailed under the Greenlandic flag, ran aground on Thursday night.
The fear is that the release could damage the fragile Arctic environment, since hydrocarbons were discovered on the surface of the water in a fjord that opens at the town of Nanortalik in southern Greenland.
Up to 20,000 liters of fuel is feared to have leaked from the thirty meter long vessel and reached the fjord despite pumps and barriers being deployed.
According to the police, wind, tides and ocean currents have made the work of the rescue services more difficult.