US EditionFrance: 27 Years After the Shipwreck of the Erika, Fuel Oil Identified on Birds in Brittany
5 Articles
5 Articles
Twenty-seven years after the shipwreck of the Erika, oil with similarities to that of the tanker was again identified on the Breton coast. Thursday, January 29, 2026, oiled birds were found on several beaches of the Finistère, reviving the memory of one of the most serious oil spills known to France.
If the shipwreck of the Erika continues to release oil, the National Navy, which monitors it, will have to check and, if necessary, take divers down. Several solutions are on the table.
More than 25 years after the shipwreck of the Erika, the fuel oil is resurfaced. Oiled birds have been found in recent days on beaches in the south Finistère and near the Talbert Sillon, in the Trégor. On their feathers: fuel oil. The analyses are formal. According to the experts of the Cedar that we have contacted, this oil comes from the Erika, failed on 12 December 1999. Even at 120 meters depth, the wreck continues to release fuel. Tempests,…
Birds with traces of oil on their plumage have been found on beaches in Brittany. For the first time in 25 years, tests have revealed that the oil came from the tanker that sank in 1999. They were found stranded on beaches in Finistère and Morbihan with black-speckled plumage. This sad phenomenon is well known to the teams at the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) wildlife rehabilitation center on Île-Grande, in Côtes-d'Armor. (...) Read m…
Twenty-six years after the shipwreck of the Erika, 17 oiled seabirds were discovered in the south of Finistère. Analyses show that oil has strong similarities with that of the failed tanker in 1999. The maritime prefecture is studying a monitoring system.
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