Yesterday French police detained a Russian cargo ship they suspect of dumping fuel into the English Channel causing a 25-kilometer-long slick.
Maritime police escorted the Sculptor Anikushin into the northern port of Dunkirk early Tuesday after a customs service helicopter reported the 50-meter-wide slick about 65 kilometers off the French coast.
The skipper and crew of the ship were being questioned, police said.
The ship was likely to be kept in port and its owners made to pay a security deposit while prosecutors decide whether to press charges.
The Channel, which separates England from northern France, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world with hundreds of vessels passing through it every day.
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