North Sea: Recently, a cargo ship hit a tanker carrying jet fuel for the American military off eastern England, setting both vessels on fire and sending fuel pouring into the North Sea.
About North Sea: It is a shallow northeastern arm of the Atlantic Ocean, covering 220,000 square miles (570,000 square km) between the British Isles and northwestern Europe.
Bordered by: Great Britain (southwest and west), Orkney and Shetland islands (northwest), Norway (northeast), Denmark (east), Germany and the Netherlands (southeast), and Belgium and France (south).
Connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Dover and the English Channel.
The Skagerrak links the North Sea to the Baltic Sea via the Kattegat and the Danish straits.
Major rivers draining into the North Sea include: Forth, Elbe, Weser, Ems, Rhine and Meuse, Scheldt, Thames, and Humber.
Economic Importance: One of Europe’s most productive fisheries. A major shipping zone for trade among European countries and between Europe and the Middle East. It contains significant reserves of petroleum and natural gas beneath the seafloor.