Clean-up crews are working to minimise the impact of an oil spill off the coast of Norway.

WWF

The substance is leaking from a freighter that ran aground on an island in the south-east of the country. According to a local newspaper, the Chinese-owned “Full City” was carrying more than 1000 tonnes of oil, when it foundered during a storm. The coastal area most at risk from the substance is a popular holiday region in summer. The World Wildlife Fund says birds from a nearby sanctuary are also in danger. Clean-up crews are placing a barrier around the vessel and in the bay to limit the amount of fuel reaching the shore. But strong winds and waves of up to six meters are complicating their efforts. And the substance has reached landfall in some locations. According to the Coast guard operations centre, there is no immediate danger of the ship breaking up. But earlier rescue officials called on the company operating the tanker, Hong Kong-based Cosco, to put pressure on the captain to abandon the vessel. Thehas called for volunteers to help in the clean-up effort. Meanwhile, the Swedish and Norwegian coast guard are still searching for the crew of a freighter that sank off the west coast of Sweden this morning. The 2500 ton Norwegian freighter, “Langeland” put out distress calls this morning. Life vests and rafts have been found but there are no signs of the six-man Russian/Ukrainian crew.