Geography provides an exacerbating factor: where the North Sea narrows intotheEnglishChannel, the waters are funnelled towards theEnglish and Dutch coasts.
As the fleet heads intotheEnglishChannel it is likely to encounter a low tracking east which could brings winds of 30-35 knots and large swells from the Atlantic.
Dr Simon Boxall, of the National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton, said earlier he thought the substance may have been dumped intotheEnglishChannel by a ship.
Of these, the biggest is al-Jazeera's long-delayed English-language channel, Al Jazeera International, which should be getting into its stride by the beginning of 2007.
Some observers believe that while thechannel may start in French, in the longer term it would have to branch out intoEnglish and Arabic if it were to be able to compete with other international players.