The Prestige broke up in heavy seas and sunk last November with calamitous effect on the Spanish coastline. It is feared that some 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil remain present and unstable within the vessel. It was initially hoped that subzero ocean floor temperatures would stabilise the oil but this has proved not to be true. Environmentalists have warned that the wreckage is a 'time bomb' about two miles down on the ocean floor.

UV Aquatracka was chosen to monitor the oil seepage because it is a high precision in-situ fluorimeter which can detect hydrocarbons to levels of 0.001ig/l and can be operated down to 6,000m. It can be deployed from undulating vehicles, moored or profiling systems. The robust, lightweight instrument has built in test (BITE) circuitry which ensures high stability and gives accurate, repeatable measurements.

MJ Information No: 18224