MV Carrier: Fuel removal due to finish before break-up

Work is continuing to finish removing fuel from a cargo ship stranded off north Wales for nearly a week.

Environment Agency Wales said efforts over the Easter weekend to remove 24,000 litres of gas oil from the MV Carrier were almost complete.

It said the salvage crew would remove an extra 100 litres of hydraulic oil when work resumed on Monday afternoon.

The ship is being prepared to be broken up for scrap later this week, with the operation set to take six weeks.

The vessel, which is registered in Antigua and Barbuda, was carrying a cargo of stone when it ran aground at Llanddulas in rough weather last Tuesday.

It came ashore adjacent to the A55 coast road.

The road has since reopened but North Wales Police have imposed a 40mph speed limit at the site and a 100m exclusion zone around the vessel.

The ship's owners say the vessel is a write-off.

A salvage company has been brought in to break up the vessel and take the pieces to a scrapyard.

Coastguards describe the sea conditions at the site on Monday at moderate to rough.

Environment Agency Wales said it had officers at the scene to take sea water samples while the MV Carrier's fuel was removed and will be offering advice to the crews scrapping the vessel.

A spokeswoman said: "The will be a risk assessment to see if it's safe to proceed."