The Greek islands are known for being some of the most picturesque locations in the world.
Their seas are blue and their sands white, largely untouched and undamaged by human hands.
At least until now, because a Greek island has suffered an ‘ecological disaster’ after a tanker carrying over 2,000 tonnes of oil sunk off its coast.
Here’s some footage by Up Drones:
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The island of Salamis has been so heavily polluted by the spill the water and beach in the Selinia Bay have turned black.
The ship carrying the destructive cargo, the Agia Zoni II has subsequently sunk just off the coast where it began taking on water.
Up Drones told UNILAD:
I am a resident of Athens and the impact on Attica is catastrophic.
I visited the affected part because I thought the image from above would help the public to understand the magnitude of the disaster.
They continued:
All those who can help in the restoration of the environment and my country must remain the most beautiful country in the world!
According to local authorities, the oil has reached Selinia and Kinosoura.
The local government said:
The damage is great. The municipality will take legal action for damages and full liability of the ecological disaster.
Companies with experience in such incidents have assured us that they will restore the coast and the sea to the former situation.
According to Keep Talking Greece, a resident of Selinia was woken up by the horrific smell of the oil.
They said:
We went to the beach and saw several ships, we heard a tanker had sunk.
Later we found a dead bird. We were proud of Selinia, now it will take several years until it is clear again.
It is estimated the cleaning of the sea would take around one month, but the beach itself will take much longer due to the oil being already absorbed.
It is not currently certain how the ship sank and spilled the oil, but apparently two crew members were rescued from the waters.
It is known the tanker sank at 2.45am on Sunday September 10, causing the pollution to extend almost two kilometres in the water.
