RIGA, January 23 (RIA Novosti) - A Cypriot dry cargo ship that ran ashore near the Latvian coast has been damaged, and its fuel is leaking into the Baltic Sea.
The fuel spillage from the Golden Sky ship has already killed tens of birds on the coast of Ventspils, a northwest Latvian port. Progress in cleaning up the fuel has been slow due to stormy weather.
The ship, carrying a large cargo of potassium salts, ran ashore Friday near Ventspils, and the crew was evacuated.
Latvian environmentalists said that even if the spill is localized, the local ecology could still face substantial damage as potassium salts, once in the water, can be fatal for sealife and birds.
