Residents and authorities on Santorini are determined to force the owners of the Sea Diamond cruise ship, which sank off the island last April, to pump the remaining fuel from its hull.

A lawyer acting on behalf of the municipality, Sofia Kitsiou, told Kathimerini yesterday that the islanders are not prepared to allow Louis Hellenic Cruises to neglect to recover several hundred tons of fuel from the ship’s tanks.

The cruise company said last month that it had finished a cleanup around the port of Athinio, where the ship sank, and had left the beaches in a better state that it found them.

Kitsiou said however that fuel is continuing to seep out from the sunken vessel. “We insist that the plan to pump out the fuel should be implemented, even if it is not possible for all the fuel to be removed, rather than having to forever mop up oil slicks from the sea surface,” the lawyer said.

A team from the Merchant Marine Ministry is expected on the island next week to discuss the matter with Santorini officials.