Sunken fishing boat leaves 'stinking' oil leaking into beauty spot harbour

A sunken boat is causing concern in a UK beauty spot after it began spilling oil and leaving a slick on the water's surface.

The former motor fishing vessel (MFV) Karina Olsen, which had been used as a live-aboard boat, met its watery grave at its mooring spot in Penzance harbour early in October, collapsing against the quay wall where it was docked.

Cornwall Council had reportedly been looking to dispose of the 17-metre boat earlier this year after concerns were raised that it had been moored in the harbour for over two decades and had fallen into disrepair.

Andrew Penney, from Mounts Bay Marine Group (MBMG) and a regular swimmer, expressed his concerns: "I regularly swim in Penzance harbour when conditions in the open sea are not suitable. Recently a boat in poor condition has been moored against the quay. It has since sunk - at high tide it is largely submerged."

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He continued, revealing the environmental threat posed by the sunken vessel: "I understand that the boat had a quantity of fuel on board. I believe that some fuel has been pumped off but there is still a thin film of oil on the surface of the harbour at high tide. This has made it impossible to swim. I do not know what impact the oil would have on the environment and sea life."

Penney also highlighted the inadequate response to the incident: "A lightweight boom has been placed around the boat, however at low tide it doesn't look effective, with it lying flat on the surface and gaps at the edge. I am concerned that the boat has been left to deteriorate and leak fuel for weeks. There has been very little activity to remove the boat.", reports .

"I am concerned about the impact to the environment and Harbour users if the boat is not made safe as soon as possible." voiced a worried local.

A Penzance resident also added: "It has been leaking since it was put there and the boom isn't containing it either. It's coming over the top and out of the sides ... it stinks. Looking at it at low tide, the boom is useless because it doesn't form a seal at the bottom, there were large gaps where any oil would escape. There's a film of oil over the whole harbour."

A representative of Cornwall Council explained that when the Karina Olsen sank it "was surrounded by an oil boom and absorbent equipment used to recover a minor spillage at that time. The Harbour Authority were later able to recover large quantity of diesel from the vessel but due to the deteriorating condition of the vessel it has not been safe to recover any more."

They added, "The high spring tide has washed through the vessel and some oil has escaped from the boom. Additional absorbents have been placed around the vessel. We continue to monitor the situation and encourage the vessels owner to take appropriate action to remove the vessel."

It's understood that around 3,500 litres of diesel were recovered from the privately owned boat, and the Harbour Authority is in discussions with the owner regarding the vessel's disposal.

A meeting of Cornwall Harbours Board on January 11 revealed that the Karina Olsen was sold by its original owner with a stipulation that it be removed from the harbour within three months due to it occupying valuable berth space. However, the boat was resold without the Penzance harbourmaster's agreement and the new owner was not in contact with the authorities at the time of the meeting.

The harbours board was informed that the Karina Olsen was in a worsening state with no evidence of upkeep, posing an increased safety risk at the harbour.