China says Yellow Sea oil spill is ‘small’
Beijing, Apr 28 (EFE).- China said Wednesday that an oil spill caused by a collision the previous day between an oil tanker and a cargo ship in the waters of the Yellow Sea is “a small amount.”
“The collision damaged the cargo compartments of the tanker and a small amount of oil spill was found in the sea,” the Maritime Safety Authority of eastern China’s Shandong province said today through social network Weibo.
It said “the two ships are stable” and emergency work continues, although the crash did not cause injuries.
After the accident, a security perimeter was created “to prevent secondary accidents,” the authority added.
The event occurred at about 09:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday, when the Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier Sea Justice collided with the Liberian-flagged tanker A Symphony anchored in waters near the important port of Qingdao, in eastern China.
The A Symphony tanker, 272 meters long and almost 46 meters wide, was built in 2001 and is managed by Singaporean company Goodwood Ship Management.
The company confirmed the event in a statement sent Tuesday to EFE.
“The force of the impact on the front of the port side caused a crack in the cargo and ballast tanks, with a quantity of crude oil spilled into the ocean,” it said.
According to Goodwood Ship Management, poor visibility off Qingdao Port has hampered emergency operations, which are continuing at the moment. EFE
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