| has gloss | eng: The West Cork oil spill is an ongoing oil spill off the southern coast of Ireland. The spill was first identified by the European Maritime Safety Agencys CleanSeaNet satellite monitoring system on 14 February 2009. An Irish Air Corps marine patrol aircraft first spotted the slick around the which was undergoing refuelling around the same time. The Russian Navy have since accepted responsibility for the incident. The Coast Guard dispatched an Irish Air Corps CASA CN-235 maritime patrol aircraft to investigate which confirmed the presence of oil on the surface of the sea around a Russian Navy oil tanker and the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. The spill was located in international waters 80 km (50 mi) south of Fastnet Rock, Irelands most southwesterly point, and spread over an area measuring 6.4 km (4 mi) by 8 km (5 mi). |
