Sailing: ‘Oily slick’ sited off coast of venue

An ‘oily slick’ covering about two square kilometres was floating off the coast of Qingdao, where Olympic sailing events are being held, the Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

An ‘oily slick’ covering about two square kilometres was floating off the coast of Qingdao, where Olympic sailing events are being held, the Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

The unidentified substance on the sea’s surface was first reported about 30 nautical miles from the sailing course by the city maritime department on Monday evening, Xinhua said, quoting Wang Weiping, deputy secretary general of the city government.

“We think it will not affect the sailing events as an oil film is usually emulsified in a few days and the north wind will blow it southward and away from the competition area,” Wang said.

Story continues below this ad

International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Secretary General Jerome Pels said: “At the moment it’s not a threat to the field of play but we will be in contact with the organising committee to keep up to date with the situation.” A massive and unsightly bloom of more than 1 million tonnes of algae had appeared off the rocky beaches of Qingdao in July, embarrassing the host city. Thousands of troops and volunteers were mobilised for the clean up.

A boom now surrounds the competition area to block any algae from marring the races.

Thick heat and humidity that had been blanketing Qingdao lifted on Tuesday, with cooler weather and a hint of rain on the horizon. Qingdao is around 900 km (560 miles) southeast of Beijing.