Salvage workers have begun to remove steel cargo from the wreck of a bulk carrier that has been aground off Gibraltar for five months.

The first batches of steel cargo have been removed from hold number three of the 35,400-dwt OS 35 (built 1999).

The operation, which the Gibraltar government has demanded must be completed by May, initially faced delays when crane barges Koole 31 and K10030 were held up at the French port of Brest.