Fuel leak in Greek tanker collision
Cypriot container ship collides with oil tanker off Dutch coast but the crew manages to plug leak after brief spill.
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| The crew of the Greek tanker pumped the remaining fuel into the undamaged part of the ship to plug the leak [EPA] |
A Greek oil tanker has collided with a container ship 30 kilometres off the Dutch coast, briefly leaking jet fuel into the North Sea.
The leak on Tuesday was quickly contained after the crew of the Mindoro pumped the remaining fuel into an undamaged part of the ship, a Dutch coast guard official said.
Peter van Oorschot, the coast guard spokesman, said no one was injured on either of the vessels.
“We have a small slick in the water, but it is minimal and it is evaporating very quickly,” he said, adding that the situation “appears to be under control”.
He said it was unclear how much jet fuel had spilled into the sea, but that offshore winds were blowing the slick away from the coast.
Returning to port
The Mindoro dropped its anchor and was waiting for experts to investigate whether it was safe for it to return to port.
Dutch news website Nu.nl said the Greek tanker had a five-metre-wide hole torn into its hull close to the waterline.
The container ship involved in the collision, the Cypriot-flagged Jork Ranger, was returning to port, but was not seriously damaged.
Van Oorschot added that an oil spill control boat was on its way to the stricken tanker as a precaution. A coast guard tug boat also was heading to the scene.
The cause of the collision was not immediately clear.