200 firefighters from Vienna and Lower Austria were deployed to pump the fuel out of the tanker and into a second tanker, in efforts to make sure that it didn’t leak and pollute the Donauinsel area and Marchfeld canal. Oil barriers were set up around the tanker in case there was a spill.
The tanker hit rocky ground on Sunday when it went too close to the shore. 150,000 litres of fuel were pumped out of the tanker and by Tuesday afternoon it was eventually afloat again and able to continue its journey to a mineral oil storage facility in Korneuburg.
“It’s clear that the tanker had gone off its prescribed course,” Franz Resperger, spokesman for the Lower Austrian Fire Command said. According to Vienna police, the captain of the tanker had a blood alcohol level of 0,74 promille, which would have affected his depth perception and peripheral vision.
Please whitelist us to continue reading.