The Erika was carrying No. 2 fuel oil intended for use in a power plant owned by Italy’s national electric utility ENEL. No. 2 fuel oil is a conventional petroleum product used mainly as a fuel in power plants and cement plants, as well as for ships with powerful, low-speed diesel engines.
It is produced in refineries by mixing a heavy petroleum fraction with a fluxing agent to produce a less viscous product suitable for commercial use. It is the third most commonly used petroleum product after gasoline and diesel.

Under French law, fuel oil is a petroleum product, not waste (ruling issued by the Saint-Nazaire Criminal Court on December 6, 2000 and confirmed by the Rennes appellate court on February 13, 2002).

The many analyses conducted as part of expert evaluations ordered by various civil and administrative courts and by the investigating magistrate confirmed that the Erika’s sole cargo was No. 2 fuel oil.

These findings were further corroborated by analyses conducted by the French Petroleum Institute (IFP). It is worth noting that other checks had also been performed prior to the sinking: