<p class="title">Hundreds of birds stricken after Rotterdam oil spill</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Hague, June 25, 2018 (AFP) - Animal rescue workers on Monday were frantically cleaning hundreds of birds after an oil spill in the Rotterdam harbour at the weekend when an oil tanker hit a jetty dumping some 200 tonnes of bunker fuel.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Norwegian tanker Bow Jubail on Saturday crashed against a jetty in western Europe's largest port, spilling the heavy bunker fuel into the section of the harbour reserved for offloading petroleum, west of the city.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We are currently hard at work cleaning hundreds of birds, including swans," said Anneke Heinecke of the Dutch water management agency Rijkswaterstaat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Many of the birds are covered in oil and it's not easy to catch and clean them," Heinecke told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Rijkswaterstaat, together with other animal aid organisations, set up an "animal hospital" Monday capable of cleaning some 500 birds, she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In total, more than 300 birds have been captured and were in the process of being cleaned, Heinecke said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">By Monday afternoon 100 tonnes of the fuel had been cleaned up with the operation expected to take "several more days," the Port of Rotterdam said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Six special cleaning ships are active in the area," the harbour said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It will take several days for operations to wrap up," it added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dutch news reports said the Bow Jubail belonged to Norwegian oil and chemical transporter Odfjell, with the Port of Rotterdam adding it is "holding the owner responsible" for the accident.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Dutch Safety Board -- which looks into industrial accidents -- also announced it was going to the site to do a preliminary probe.</p>.<p class="bodytext">One of the largest spills in the Rotterdam harbour happened in 2007 when a ship broke its mooring and crashed against a quay during a heavy winter storm.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The crash ruptured pipelines on the Maasvlakte Oil Terminal, spilling some 800 cubic metres of oil into the harbour.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Damage from that spill ran into millions of euros and it took more than a month to clean up, Dutch news reports said at the time.</p>
<p class="title">Hundreds of birds stricken after Rotterdam oil spill</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Hague, June 25, 2018 (AFP) - Animal rescue workers on Monday were frantically cleaning hundreds of birds after an oil spill in the Rotterdam harbour at the weekend when an oil tanker hit a jetty dumping some 200 tonnes of bunker fuel.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Norwegian tanker Bow Jubail on Saturday crashed against a jetty in western Europe's largest port, spilling the heavy bunker fuel into the section of the harbour reserved for offloading petroleum, west of the city.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We are currently hard at work cleaning hundreds of birds, including swans," said Anneke Heinecke of the Dutch water management agency Rijkswaterstaat.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Many of the birds are covered in oil and it's not easy to catch and clean them," Heinecke told AFP.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Rijkswaterstaat, together with other animal aid organisations, set up an "animal hospital" Monday capable of cleaning some 500 birds, she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In total, more than 300 birds have been captured and were in the process of being cleaned, Heinecke said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">By Monday afternoon 100 tonnes of the fuel had been cleaned up with the operation expected to take "several more days," the Port of Rotterdam said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Six special cleaning ships are active in the area," the harbour said in a statement.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It will take several days for operations to wrap up," it added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dutch news reports said the Bow Jubail belonged to Norwegian oil and chemical transporter Odfjell, with the Port of Rotterdam adding it is "holding the owner responsible" for the accident.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Dutch Safety Board -- which looks into industrial accidents -- also announced it was going to the site to do a preliminary probe.</p>.<p class="bodytext">One of the largest spills in the Rotterdam harbour happened in 2007 when a ship broke its mooring and crashed against a quay during a heavy winter storm.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The crash ruptured pipelines on the Maasvlakte Oil Terminal, spilling some 800 cubic metres of oil into the harbour.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Damage from that spill ran into millions of euros and it took more than a month to clean up, Dutch news reports said at the time.</p>