An Ecuadorean freighter carrying 16,000 gallons of fuel on the coast of San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands, on Friday.
“For the moment,” the freighter* does not pose a direct threat to one of the richest ecosystems of biodiversity in the world, .
Divers confirmed that the freighter’s stern, the portion perched on the rocky seabed, is far enough away from the fuel tanks still on board鈥攁gain, for now.
But a major ebb tide and subsequent swell in sea level could swing the ship straight into the rocks. Workers with the Comit茅 de Operaciones de Emergencia (San Cristobal) are , but if they move too quickly, the ship could pop up and swing into the rocks, puncturing its side and spilling whatever is left on board.
The Galapagos National Park Service drew up a contingency plan over the weekend in hopes to .
*In a previous version of the story, the term “oil tanker” was incorrectly used.