 The boat disappeared beneath the waves in just four hours |
An operation to remove fuel from the wreck of a cargo ship which sank off the coast of Ullapool is set to begin. Divers are inspecting the Cypriot-registered Jambo coaster which went down after striking rocks off the Summer Isles near the entrance to Loch Broom on Sunday.
Seven crew members were rescued from the 1,200-tonne vessel, which sank with its cargo of 3,300 tonnes of zinc concentrate and 83 tonnes of fuel.
The sunken ship is said to be lying on a large seabed boulder, perched at an angle of 20 degrees in 90ft of water.
Police, marine accident investigators and environmental protection agencies have set up a group to monitor any risk to the environment.
Environmental tests
Experts from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) are testing some of the cargo which escaped from the vessel's holds when hatch covers were opened by the force of the sinking.
The escaped cargo, a brown granular material which does not dissolve in water, is said to be lying exposed on the seabed.
 The 'Jambo' was carrying 3,500 tonnes of zinc ore |
A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said: "We don't know how much escaped and samples have been taken away for analysis."
But he added that there were so far no signs of fuel escaping from the wreck.
The spokesman said efforts to remove the cargo were likely to start over the weekend or early next week, after the fuel has been removed.
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