A Spanish trawler skipper was fined £2,000 and £300 costs by magistrates at Haverfordwest on Monday for allowing two litres of fuel oil to spill into Milford Docks.

Carlos Rey Moreira, aged 43, who flew from Spain for the court hearing, pleaded guilty to causing oil pollution while the trawler, Resolution, was bunkering on March 12th.

The trawler had a very eccentric bunkering system, said Mr Vincent Jones, prosecuting for Milford Haven Port Authority.

The sounding points indicating how much fuel was left in the tanks were either rusted up or covered up by welded plating, so plastic bags were tied over the vents to catch overflowing oil when the tanks were filled.

On this occasion, the court heard, one of the bags split, causing oil to spill and two litres escaped into the Docks.

He said that although the amount of pollution was small it was a matter of concern to the Port Authority that such spillages were occurring and that such methods of bunkering should not continue. The maximum fine was £250,000.

Mr David James, defending, told the court that Moreira had been skipper for only two months before the spillage and inherited the unsatisfactory system. On the day in question the chief engineer had been in charge but the skipper accepted full responsibility. He was no longer with vessels owners, Hookstone Ltd of Ardrossan Harbour, Ayr, Scotland.

The oil had been cleaned up immediately from the deck and, since the incident, the owners had restored the proper method of gauging fuel levels.

The chairman, Mrs Pat Swales Barker, said the bench had taken into account Moreiras early guilty plea and also that the corrective work had been carried out.

Although the amount was relatively small, potentially it could have been much larger, she added.