 The MV Jambo sunk off the west coast |
Salvage experts have hit problems in the operation to remove toxic cargo from a sunken ship off the west coast of Scotland. The 3,000 tonnes of zinc sulphide on board the MV Jambo, which sank off Wester Ross, is proving too heavy to remove.
The vessel veered off course, struck rocks and sank off the Summer Isles at the end of June.
The Cypriot-registered vessel, carrying zinc concentrate from Dublin to Norway, also had more than 84 tonnes of marine diesel on board.
Estimated time frame
The pumping operation to bring the Jambo's main cargo to the surface only started this week.
The salvage team have found that only 3% of what was being sucked from the ship's holds was the zinc powder.
The material is so heavy that much of it was falling back to the MV Jambo, which is lying in 60 feet of water.
The estimated time frame for bringing up the mineral load was about two weeks, but those working at the wreck said it could take as long as a month.
One-Minute World News 
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