Erika Pumping Progresses

Pumping began on Sunday to remove an estimated 6,000 tons of fuel from the stern of a sunken tanker Erika. The same volume of fuel was pumped from the front half of the Erika in operations that ended on July 16. The two halves of the vessel are on the ocean bed 10 km (six miles) apart. Four ships hired by the French-Belgian oil company TotalFinaElf, which chartered the Erika, started the pumping operation on July 3.