Efforts to re-float the stricken cargo ship Kodima will be made on Thursday.

The 6,000- tonne Maltese-registered vessel ran aground in Whitsand Bay, Cornwall, at the weekend.

But forecasters predict more bad weather which could hamper any operation to free the ship.

Maritime officials have warned the operation will be a "long process".

Timber warning

Salvage engineers have secured a tanker, the Whit Task, from Southampton, to receive oil from the ship, said a spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Several hundred tonnes of oil remain in the holds of the cargo ship which had been carrying timber from Sweden to Libya.

A contractor has also been appointed to clear thousands of planks of wood from the beaches in Whitsand Bay and along the coast.

Small craft have been warned about the dangers of the timber planks which have spilled from the hold of the Kodima.

Exclusion zone

A three mile air exclusion zone around the vessel is currently in place.

The 16-strong Russian crew of the Maltese-registered cargo vessel were winched to safety on Saturday.

The salvage operation comes less than a month after an operation to refloat another tanker in nearby Cawsand Bay.

The MV Willy was successfully refloated and towed to Falmouth, but it has now been declared a write-off.