PULA - The environmental associations Greenpeace and Cova Contra have begun investigations into an oil spill in the Adriatic Sea, after satellite imagery and data was released by the European Space Agency (ESA) showing oil in areas of the sea between Italy and Croatia.

  The spill was caused by the sinking of the oil rig Ivana D on Dec. 5. During a storm at sea, the platform, already nearing the end of its life and being prepared for either disposal or maintenance, sustained heavy damage and sunk to a depth of over 40m. 

  Alessandro Gianni, director of Greenpeace Italia’s campaign, has said, “the satellite images collected by Cova Contro, relative to the hours following the incident, show the presence of evident traces detected of an oil spill, in the first moment close to the platform, and then dispersing across the Croatian and Italian coasts.”

  Greenpeace have also revealed that in Italian waters there exist many other oil platforms who are similarly at the end of their 20 year lifespan, producing nothing and in urgent need of disposal.

  Reassurances by Croatian authorities have been ignored by Greenpeace and Cova Contro, who continue to attack the existence of marine oil platforms, citing their danger, as well as their contribution to global warming. 

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