By Samuel Smith BBC News Online

A nine mile oil slick is believed to have been released from the stricken Channel wreck the Tricolor, according to UK coastguards.

The slick was released when a salvage tug hit a fuel tank on the partially submerged Tricolor on Thursday.

It is not threatening our coast, due to the wind direction, but we will provide help wherever we can Mark Clark, UK Coastguard

It is the third boat to hit the Tricolor since December.

Belgian authorities are heading up the rescue operation but, so far, have been unable to find a slick of oil.

The UK coastline is not under threat, although nearly two thousand oil-covered birds have already washed ashore on the Belgian coast.

Mark Clark, from UK Coastguard, told BBC News Online the French Authorities reported the slick to be nine miles wide and 300 metres long.

He said: "We were asked to provide a plane that sprays dispersants on the oil but bad weather conditions meant this operation could not take place.

"It is not threatening our coast, due to the wind direction, but we will provide help wherever we can."

Difficult operation

Belgian authorities have ordered around 120 military personnel to be on standby to tackle the slick.

Plans are in place for floating buffers to resist any oil along Belgium's 66-km (40-mile) coast.

Threatened coastline

14 Dec: Tricolor and Kariba collide in heavy fog, sinking the former 15 Dec: cargo ship NSD Provider comes within 500 m of wreck 16 Dec: freighter Nicola runs into swamped ship 1 Jan: so too does fuel tanker Vicky 23 Jan: Tug boat Alphonse Letzer collision

Lars Walder, from Smit Salvage - the firm heading up the recovery of the Tricolor - said it was proving difficult to find the oil.

He admitted, however, that 200 birds covered in oil from the Tricolor had already washed ashore at Zeebrugge.

Latest figures from BirdLife Belgium estimate 1,770 oiled seabirds - nearly all Guillemots - have been recovered from a 30km of the Belgian coast.

At least 220 were dead.

Mr Walder said: "Airplanes have gone up over the area in the last two days and they have been unable to find any significant slick of oil.

"They were only able to find small patches."

Mr Walder stressed, however, that he did not want to "minimalise the problem "

It is not yet known how much oil has been released by the Tricolor after Smit tug boat, the Alphonse Letzer, ran into it while berthing last Thursday.

	:	Graphic guide
The Tricolor shipwreck

Mr Walder added: "We couldn't go inside the tank because of bad weather conditions.

"But we were able to immediately patch the holes on the tank."

The Tricolor has been a shipping hazard since it collided with another vessel and sank on 14 December.

It was carrying 2,000 tonnes of fuel when it went over on its side with more than 2,850 new BMW, Volvo and Saab cars.

The cargo ship Nicola then hit the Tricolor two days later, followed by another collision, by the Vicky, at the start of January.