There are more signs of oil in and around the Baltic III which ran aground near Lark Harbour back in February.

A private company is involved in the salvage effort, while the Canadian Coast Guard, which supplied the latest update, is providing oversight.

Since April 11th a number of tar balls of various sizes and other “minor observations of oil” have been noticed during shoreline surveys.

The Coast Guard says the hull of the cargo vessel is severely damaged and the engine room and two fuel tanks have been breached.

Dive surveys show a black, tarry substance trapped under the vessel, which the Coast Guard says is likely residual oil. In the meantime, tar ball samples were collected and submitted to Environment and Climate Change Canada for analysis and comparison to oil from the vessel.

The results do not indicate a match with the available samples, but that does not rule out the vessel as the source. Some of the ship’s fuel tanks are inaccessible, but as soon as it is feasible, samples will be taken from those thanks for testing.

Oil heating, pumping and transfer operations continue as the weather and ocean conditions allow, but the weather remains a challenge in the area.