Pollution

Citation

(2006), "Pollution", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 15 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2006.07315dac.002

Pollution

26 April 2005Ratna Shalini (India)

Kenya is yet to lodge a claim for damages following the recent oil spill at the Mombsa port. The Sh76 million claim the Government lodged with the owners of crude oil tanker Ratna Shalini was not the final settlement, a parliamentary watchdog clarified yesterday. The chairman of the Committee on Energy, Communications and Public Works, Mr Maoka Maore, said the first claim was a security bond and not the damages. “The final compensation will be established after Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and National Environment Management Authority (Nema) assess the damages,” Mr Maore said. He was speaking at the port when he and other committee members went to establish the extent of the oil spill. “The final compensation will only be determined after costs in terms of equipment, workforce and damage to the environment have been quantified,” he said. Noting Kenya was guaranteed compensation under the polluter pays agreement, Mr Maore said his team had established that only 200tons of oil spilled into the sea and damage to the environment was minimal. “Contrary to reports we have been reading in a section of the Press, we have established that there was no massive oil spill or damage to the environment,” he said. The Acting Director of shipping, Mr Peter Thuo, said the Government had alerted its international partners about the oil spill for the sake of compensation. He said Kenya would seek compensation from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund. The chairman of the Kenya Maritime Authority, Colonel Joseph Nguru asked the Government to speed up the enactment of the Maritime Bill and the Kenya Shipping Merchant Act. He said the two laws would help the country to domesticate international maritime conventions that Kenya is signatory to. Recently, the Director-General of Nema, Prof. Ratemo Michieka, announced that the Government had launched a Sh76 million compensation claim with owners of the ship that spilled the oil. The KPA harbour master and chief operations manager Captain Twalib Khamis, said investigations had been launched to establish the cause of the accident.

23 April 2005Selendang Ayu (Malaysia)

The Unified Command in charge of the bulk Selendang Ayu response will begin the Spring and Summer shoreline clean-up today on Unalaska Island. Approximately 200 people and 22 vessels are scheduled to begin cleaning and restoring priority pollution sites in Skan and Makushin bay this week, based on recommendations by Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Teams (SCAT). As the initial SCAT process continues, approximately 188 sites have been surveyed, marked and prioritised for clean-up. Of the planned 470miles of coastline to be surveyed, SCAT have completed 81miles of survey since Spring operations commenced April 2. SCAT involves teams of trained observers surveying the affected coastal area to provide an accurate assessment of shoreline oiling conditions on each beach. Teams represent the interests of federal and state agencies, the responsible party and representatives of owners of oiled property.

12 May 2005. Clean-up operations continue in earnest at the site of the bulk Selendang Ayu wreck. Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Team (SCAT) personnel continue making progress and have surveyed 465 segments of the 799 beach segments identified as potentially impacted sites. Coast Guard Captain Ron Morris, Federal On-scene Co-ordinator said “The shoreline has been divided into segments as an aid for geographical referencing for response personnel. The segments surveyed are approximately equal to 224miles of shoreline with some portion of 53miles of those surveyed recommended for clean-up. The other 171miles will not require further treatment. There is an estimated 245miles of shoreline yet to be surveyed.” To date cleaning crews have collected 1,407cubic yards of oily waste. There are currently 158 field response personnel and 21 vessels involved in the clean-up operations. Officials hope to conclude clean-up operations by October 15. The responsible party is also devising a plan to deal with wreck removal in accordance with the State's requirements. Impacted wildlife consists of 781 birds observed oiled, 29 captured for rehabilitation, 10 released, and 1,609 dead. Mammals consist of 18 observed oiled, zero captured and six dead. No additional wildlife impacts have been reported since the commencement of spring/summer operations.

15 June 2005. Two months into the resumption of the bulk Selendang Ayu response spring and summer shoreline clean-up, the Unified Command and its response teams report progress following the carefully worked out recommendations of the Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Teams (SCAT). Progress is being made to the 768 sites, which have been surveyed, marked and prioritized for clean-up. A community of workers made up almost exclusively of Alaskan residents and Alaska Native Corporations is doing the work. Alaskan residents staff more than 88 per cent of the response effort. About 50 per cent of the response is drawn from Native Corporations.

26 April 2005Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, USA

A tug pilot was charged today with allowing barge B. No. 120 to drift off course and spill 98,000gal of fuel oil into a bay off the Massachusetts coast two years ago. Franklin Robert Hill faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted of violating the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Michael Sullivan said. On April 27, 2003, Hill was the mate on a tug that was pulling B. No. 120 into the Cape Cod Canal when it went off course onto rocky shoals. The tugboat and barge hit a rock outcropping, ripping a 12ft hole in the bottom of the barge and rupturing one of its ten oil tanks. The spill in Buzzards Bay killed hundreds of birds and shut down shellfish beds, affecting nearly 90miles of coastline in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Prosecutors said Hill was responsible for navigating and piloting the boat at the time of the spill. Hill allegedly left the helm unattended to work at the stern of the vessel. He also failed to monitor the radio and missed a warning issued by another vessel that his vessel was entering a shallow part of the bay, prosecutors said. Hill and the tugboat's Captain, Milan LeDuc, were fired by the owner, Bouchard Transportation Co. LeDuc was off duty at the time of the spill and has not been charged. In November, Bouchard Transportation pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act and agreed to pay a record $10 million fine. The clean-up effort will end up costing tens of millions of dollars, prosecutors said.

28 April 2005B. No. 35 (USA)

Bouchard tank barge B.No. 35 (4,761 gt, built 1980) was being transported by tug Bruce A.McAllister to a facility in Rensselaer, laden with gasoline spilled some of its load into the Hudson River near the mouth of the Wappinger Creek at about 1,540, today, US Coast Guard spokesman Mike Hvozda said. The amount of gasoline spilled has yet to be determined. It is not known yet how many of the tanks within the barge ruptured, nor how much from any one tank spilled, Hvozda said. No more gasoline was believed to be leaking as of about 17:45h. In addition to the Coast Guard, the Department of Environmental Conservation, Dutchess County Sheriff's Office and National Response Corporation sent vessels to the scene. The National Response Corporation is a contractor that responds to spills. The Coast Guard has ordered it to install a boom at the mouth of the Wappinger Creek to prevent gasoline from flowing in, Hvozda said. The gasoline that has been spilled will be left to evaporate, he said.

28 April 2005. Tank barge B.No. 35 spilled some of the 75,000gal of unleaded gasoline it was carrying after striking a rocky area in the Hudson River today. The accident happened around 15:45h near the mouth of Wappinger Creek. At least two of the barge's 10 tanks ruptured, the Coast Guard said, but it was unclear how much gasoline leaked into the river. Workers were using booms to prevent it from flowing into the creek. “There was a slick on the river,” New Hamburg Fire Chief Jeffrey Renihan said. “But the wind was helping us out, helping it evaporate.” Dutchess County Sheriff Lt. Gary Bashor said strong winds may have contributed to the accident. The rocky area is on navigation charts. The tugboat from McAllister Towing and Transport was pulling the Bouchard Transportation Co barge on its way from New York City to Rensselaer. Some residents in New Hamburg, 75miles south of Albany, complained the odour from the spill burned their eyes and noses. The Coast Guard will investigate to determine whether the tug operator should be penalised.

3 May 2005. The tug (Bruce A.McAllister) crew involved in Thursday's (April 28) gasoline barge (B.No. 35) accident in the Hudson River near New Hamburg had experience on the Hudson River, Buck McAllister, Vice President of McAllister Towing and Transport, said yesterday. And they had extensive training, as required by federal law, he said. It still is not known how much was spilled. Leaks in the barge were being plugged yesterday at a Dynegy dock in Newburgh so the gasoline could be pumped into another barge, Coast Guard spokesman Mike Hvozda said. Once the barge is unloaded, investigators can estimate how much of the 3.1 million gallons of fuel spilled. Witnesses said the barge scraped Diamond Reef, a rock ledge in the river. The Coast Guard will not conclude its investigation before the damaged barge is moved to another port. “Part of that will be when the damaged barge gets to the next facility for repair, and they get a really good look at it,” Hvozda said.

3 May 2005. Tank barge B.NO.35 has been towed to the Roseton electric generating plant where it has been docked. US Coast Guard Petty Officer Mike Hvozda said the transfer of the fuel to another barge is on hold for now. “We are suspended from activity now because of a patch that they are trying to make sure has a permanent seal on it before they transfer any of the product to a barge that is waiting to take the fuel,” he said. Damage is on the under side of the barge and contractors that are diving under water are making sure there is an epoxy seal to prevent more water from coming in, Hvozda said.

18 May 2005. Tank barge B.No. 35 that struck a reef and spilled gasoline into the Hudson River in New Hamburg late last month spilled approximately 28,000gal of its 3.1 million gallon cargo, the US Coast Guard said yesterday. “The barge right now is in Hoboken, New Jersey where it is being repaired and will be there throughout the month and hopefully in July we will be able to check out the repairs for that barge,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Michael Hvozda said. The crew of the tug that was pushing the barge was tested for drugs and alcohol. The results of those tests came back negative, Hvozda said. The crew has no restrictions imposed on them following the incident, he said.

5 May 2005Song Thuong (Vietnam)

Salvage work of a four-month old massive oil spill off Vietnam's central coast has not yet started although relevant authorities said they would clean up the spill more than a month ago. An oil slick has already coated 900m of water surface about two nautical miles Northwest of Central Thua Thien Hue Province after 11,000ton general cargo Song Thuong (6,249 gt, built 1976), carrying about 130tons of heavy oil and diesel, sank in the sea on December 31 last year. The Vessel's Operator, state-owned Vietnam Ocean Shipping Company (Vosco), decided to abandon the ship after all crew members were rescued by regional rescue workers. On February 24, the local authorities, Vietnam's National Marine Bureau, Vosco and other concerned agencies decided in a meeting to clean up 130tons of oil before March 30 and lift the ship before May 30. However, agencies in charge of salvage operation have not begun to lift the ship and clean the spillage yet.

5 May 2005Santa Emma (Panama)

Thousands of litres of oil-contaminated water have been pumped from the hold of ro/ro Santa Emma that ran around in the Northumberland Strait last week. However, officials say the clean-up of the vessel is far from over. Sorting out who owns the vessel, and thus who is responsible for clean-up costs, is proving to be an equally arduous task. Maurice Landry, a spokesman for Transport Canada, says it may take “awhile” to solve the ownership question because of the complex legal issues involved. The vessel arrived in Canada in January 2004 to pick up a load of peat moss, but was detained for failing to meet the standards of the Canada Shipping Act. It has been tied up at the former Marine Atlantic wharf in Cape Tormentine ever since.

9 May 2005. Canadian authorities are continuing to pump bunker oil from the hold of abandoned ro/ro Santa Emma, which ran aground near a wharf in the Northumberland Strait off Canada's east coast. The vessel broke free of its moorings in high winds and drifted ashore in Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick. With a large gash to the hull above the waterline, it was listing 128 while sitting on the bottom. Santa Emma has been sitting idle for the past 15 months after being detained by Transport Canada, the federal transport department, for failing to meet structural and other inspection standards under the Canada Shipping Act. It had arrived in Canada in January 2004 from Piraeus to pick up a shipment of peat moss. The vessel is now tied to the wharf and part of its hull has been filled with saltwater to stabilise it. “Some 50,000 litres of oil contaminated water have been removed from the diesel tanks, the main hold and the engine-room,” said David Jennings, Communications Manager of the Canadian Coast Guard. “However, there is a lot of bunker C oil on board,” Mr Jennings said. “We estimate that 350,000 litres have to be removed. This will require steam heat and the whole clean-up could take weeks.” “Fortunately,” Mr Jennings added, “there has been no escape of oil products to the environment.” The incident has concerned local scallop fishermen whose season has just begun. Meanwhile, the Canadian government has not yet established the identity of the vessel's owners as part of its investigation. “There are complex legal issues we have to pursue and we are still in the process of determining ownership,” said Maurice Landry, spokesman for Transport Canada. He disclosed that “there are a number of liens out against the vessel – but it is my understanding it has not yet been seized.” Mr Landry said that normally it is the responsibility of the owner to ensure there is no pollution and to pay the costs of clean-up. In the absence of a direct contact so far with the owner, Mr Landry indicated that to cover the clean-up costs Transport Canada has been authorised to access the federal Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund prior to eventually seeking reimbursement from the vessel owner.

12 May 2005Zuara (Greece)

The Ukrainian master and Greek owner of general cargo Zuara have been ordered to pay a fine of e400,000 after having been found guilty of causing pollution off the French coast. Ivan Semerenko has been ordered to pay 10 per cent of the fine and Sunbeam Maritime of Piraeus the remaining 90 per cent. The Zuara was spotted by a French Customs service aircraft on October 1 last year, 115km west of the tip of the Brittany peninsula, at the head of a pollution slick measuring 55.7km by 40m.

18 May 2005Big Sea 5 (Thailand)

The marine ecosystem in Thailand's upper Southern Province of Prachuap Khiri Khan has been put in jeopardy by an oil tanker which capsized a week ago in fierce seas, just 4km from the coastline of a national park. The large oil tanker was found by local fisheries and marine resource officials, as they prepared to create an artificial coral reef yesterday. Completely upended, the Big C5 (?product tanker Big Sea 5 (699 gt, built 1982)) was travelling from the Southern Surat Thani Province to Bangkok when it sunk on May 10. The crew of a boat which had been travelling with the vessel said that they had attempted to salvage it and pull it to shore, but had been unable to do so. According to local reporters, the environmental damage from the disaster is already apparent. A film of oil now coats the surface of the water despite the fact that the oil tanker was not said to have been carrying any oil at the time of the accident. Home to several species of dolphins, the area where the tanker capsized is also thought to be a feeding ground for beluga whales. Yesterday marine resources officials said that measures had been taken to minimize the environmental damage.

25 May 2005Evening Tide (USA)

A tug operator who caused an oil spill in Buzzards Bay two years ago that contaminated 90miles of shoreline and killed hundreds of birds pleaded guilty yesterday to violating federal environmental laws. Franklin Robert Hill, 53, of Jacksonville, Fla., who left the helm of the Evening Tide unattended on April 27, 2003, while tending to a tow line, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Boston to violating the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. A plea agreement filed in court yesterday by Assistant US Attorney Jonathan F. Mitchell and signed by Hill indicates that prosecutors will recommend prison time for Hill of between 10 and 16 months. But Hill's lawyer may seek a shorter sentence or probation. US District Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings delayed sentencing until September 21 at the request of Hill's lawyer, Peter Ball, who said Hill is preparing to leave for a 90-day assignment in the Gulf of Mexico, where he will captain a boat ferrying crew members to oil rigs. Collings released Hill on his personal recognizance, but ordered him to tell the court if he runs afoul of the Coast Guard. Neither Hill nor Ball would comment on the case yesterday.

The tug was towing a barge (B. No. 120),owned by Bouchard Transportation Co. of New York and carrying 4.1 million gallons of fuel oil, from Philadelphia to a plant in Sandwich when it drifted out of the marked channel and smashed into rocks. Some 98,000gal of oil spilled into the bay, killing 450 migratory birds, closing shellfish beds, and polluting beaches in the worst oil spill in Buzzards Bay since 1969. Bouchard, which is footing the clean-up bill for the oil spill, pleaded guilty last year to violating environmental laws and paid a $9 million criminal fine to resolve the case against the company. By pleading guilty yesterday, Hill acknowledged the government's claim that he was in charge of the Evening Tide at the time of the spill and left the wheelhouse unattended for 15min while checking the tow line as the tugboat neared the Cape Cod Canal. Hill failed to take a handheld radio with him when he went to the stern and so did not hear a warning call that the Evening Tide had strayed out of the channel.

31 May 2005Tasman Spirit (Malta)

Pakistan will claim a compensation of $2 billion from the last owners of crude oil tanker Tasman Spirit which ran aground off the coast of Karachi 22 months ago. The incident caused a spillage of about 31,000tons of crude oil, devastating the marine life and ecosystem. Pakistan had never witnessed such a socio-economic disaster in its history, as revealed by speakers at a national symposium held yesterday. The forum on Natural Resource Damage Assessment Arising From Tasman Spirit Oil Spill has been organised jointly by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, UNDP, National Institute of Oceanography and Sindh Environmental Protection Agency. Copies of a summary report on works pertaining to the damage assessment carried out by local experts, with the resources made available under the UNDP supported national environmental action plan (NEAP), were distributed among the delegates of the symposium. Speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session, federal minister for environment Maj (r) Tahir Iqbal categorically stated that Pakistan would try all options to get the compensation from the owners of the vessel. The vessel's owners accused Pakistani authorities of maintaining the harbour channel improperly and providing an incompetent pilot. He said that the government would submit its claims to recover the losses from the shipping company as it was solely responsible for the spill damage.

3 June 2005Athos I (Cyprus)

Once as many as 1,700 strong, the unified command coordinating clean-up of the November 26 (2004) crude oil spill in the Delaware River closed up shop Wednesday (June 1), but questions still linger six months after what is believed to be the fourth-worst spill on the river. Instead of sending regular work crews to clean oil from more than 100miles of shoreline impacted by the spill, the Coast Guard will monitor the river and mobilise crews to specific locations to respond when needed, Coast Guard Petty Officer John Edwards said yesterday. Crude oil tanker Athos I spilled an estimated 264,335gal of Venezuelan crude oil on the evening of November 26 (2004). Coast Guard investigators believe the vessel struck a large metal object resembling a pump casing for a dredge and a sunken anchor near the 40ft-deep Mantua Creek anchor point maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers. The investigation has not been completed, but Coast Guard officials noted previously that they may never know exactly what caused the spill. To date, Edwards said, work crews have recovered 17,761lb of oily solids and materials and 221,910gal of oil/water mix; 8,498gal of that is oil. At nearly $167 million, costs of the clean-up have reached more than three times the liability cap of $45 million placed on Athos I by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA). Tsakos Shipping and Trading surpassed the cap, but turned over all claims to a fund established by OPA after paying $125 million. The fund, which is capped at $51 million, has paid out $41 million in claims, Edwards said. A natural resources damage assessment (NRDA) is still being compiled to determine a cost of environmental damage caused by the spill, which fouled more than 100miles of shoreline on both sides of the river and killed at least 186 waterfowl.

5 June 2005. Investigators have concluded that a rusty anchor on the bottom of the Delaware River ripped the hull of crude oil tanker Athos I last autumn, causing some 265,000gal of crude oil to pour into the waterway. Investigators have not identified the anchor's owner or determined how it came to rest on the river bottom, US Coast Guard officials said. There are no markings to indicate its ownership. “It's impossible to say who or where it came from, since it's been down there so long,” Coast Guard Lt Rick Minnich said. Coast Guard officials have spent more than six months investigating the cause of the November 26 accident. The spill hampered shipping and polluted more than 100miles of shoreline in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, killing at least 180 birds and coating more than 300 vessels. Initial clean-up costs have been tallied at $167 million, Coast Guard officials said. Environmentalists fear the oil could harm people and wildlife for several decades. About a dozen lawsuits have been filed in federal court against the vessel's operator and owner, most of them by corporations that operate on the waterway. Current Coast Guard regulations do not require mariners to report the loss of an anchor or other equipment in navigable waterways. Congress, however, is considering a bill that would require them to do so.

28 June 2005. The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed a bill aimed at preventing oil spills in the nation's waterways. Rep Frank LoBiondo wrote the “Delaware River Protection Act” following a November, 2004, accident involving crude oil tanker Athos I, that spilled 265,000gal of oil into the Delaware River. The spill hampered shipping and polluted more than 100miles of shoreline in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware – from the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge in North-East Philadelphia to south of the Smyrna River in Delaware. The measure now goes to the Senate. The measure would increase liability limits on single-hull tankers under the Oil Pollution Act; require vessels to report objects that are lost overboard to the Coast Guard for immediate recovery; create a new committee to report to Congress on ways to improve oil spill response and prevention, and establish a pilot project on the Delaware River and bay to test techniques to recover submerged oil. The spill happened when the vessel's hull was ripped open by a rusty anchor resting on the river bottom. Authorities have not determined where the anchor came from. “The unanimous support for this legislation shows that it is not only very important to our region, but to the nation as well,” said LoBiondo, chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Sub-committee. “This bill will help ensure that the ecologically significant areas in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania are protected from future oil spills, while allowing the vital commerce of the Delaware River and the nation to continue.”

10 June 2005Mega Express (France)

Corsica Ferries is to appeal against the decision of a French court to impose a six-month suspended prison sentence and 500,000 fine on the master of its passenger ro/ro Mega Express (26024 gt, built 2001) who was found guilty of causing pollution in a protected zone off the Corsican coast. The court ordered Corsica Ferries subsidiary, Forship SpA, to pay 490,000, leaving the master, Francesco De Luca, to pay the remaining 10,000. But Corsica Ferries chief executive, Pierre Mattei, said he would be appealing against the decision of the court in Marseilles. He said: “We are the victims of a very severe interpretation of the law, which introduces confusion between the hoodlums of the sea and respectable ship-owners who pay attention to the environment. It was an accident. There is no interest for us in tipping our dustbins in our living room, let alone in broad daylight.” The sentence follows a hearing on April 6, at which the prosecutor justified his call for a prison sentence for the master by the need to make masters more aware of the seriousness of causing pollution at sea. The court heard that Corsica Ferriesø Mega Express was spotted from the air on May 12 last year at the head of a 22km-long oil slick. Greenpeace, which was one of a number of environmental groups at the hearing, claimed the pollution had been caused deliberately to save the cost of immobilising the ship. But the lawyer acting for Capt De Luca said that it had been accidental and had come from an unknown source. The five environmental groups, who took civil action against the master and ferry company, were each awarded 2,000 damages and 400 costs.

26 June 2005Johor, Malaysia

Malaysia's Southern Johor State has been hit by a giant oil slick believed to be the region's worst environmental disaster in recent years, a report said today. Fishermen in Pengerang, on the southernmost tip of Malaysia, on Saturday (June 25) alerted the state's environment department to the 5km long slick. Environment officials have taken samples of the oil which has affected docks and beaches in the area known for its fishing industry. However, they are yet to determine the source of the spill. “The Pengerang shore has experienced oil slick cases before but this is the worst I have seen,” fisherman Teo Seng Huat said.

27 June 2005. Malaysian authorities vowed today to track down the ship responsible for a huge oil spill off its southern coast which has caused serious damage and forced hundreds of fishermen to lay down their nets. However, fishing groups criticised the slow pace of the clean-up and experts warned the spill could cause irreversible environmental damage to marine life. “We are trying to identify the ship that spilled the oil,” said Abdul Rahman Awang, Director of the Environment Department in Southern Johor State. The busy shipping route was hit on Thursday by a 5km long oil slick which left Johor beaches covered with tar balls and harbours full of black, oily water. Some 200 fishermen in Pengerang, on the southern-most tip of Malaysia, have not been out to sea since Friday because they fear the oil slicks will damage their nets. They also criticised local authorities for not carrying out immediate clean-up operations near the river mouth and on the beach, and said each boat was suffering daily losses of up to 1,000 ringgit ($263). Abu Bakar Mohamad, President of the Fishermen Association of Pengerang, said that some 200 fishermen had been affected by the spill. Fisherman Harun Salim said that because the oil sludge still covered the local Rengit River, most of the fishermen were still not able to go out to sea. “The oil sludge will destroy our nets. The stain on the nets will drive the fish away,” he said.

28 June 2005. Authorities in Malaysia have detained a Singapore-owned tanker suspected of spilling oil off the south coast which has forced scores of fishermen to lay down their nets, a state official said today. “We have detained a Singapore-owned ship and its crew. The chemistry department is doing a matching test to find if the oil in the water is the same as in the tanker,” Freddie Long, a Johor State Executive Councillor said. Long said the tanker was detained on Saturday (June 25) and a clean-up was expected to begin tomorrow once equipment is deployed. The vessel is being held in Pasir Gudang port, said Long, who is in charge of environmental issues in the state. The busy shipping route was hit on Thursday by a 5km-long slick which left beaches in Johor covered with tar balls and harbours full of black, oily water. Abu Bakar Mohamad, President of the Fishermen's Association of Pengerang, said Monday that some 200 fishermen had been affected by the spill.

30 June 2005. The master of the vessel believed responsible for an oil slick off the Johor coast jumped onto a lifeboat and escaped to Batam, Indonesia, when police moved in today. However, six crewmen of product tanker Aranda (500 gt, built 1977) were detained for questioning by the state Department of Environment for polluting the area close to Sungai Rengit, last Sunday. State Executive Councillor for tourism and environment Freddie Long said the crew were detained three nautical miles off Tanjung Ayam, Kota Tinggi, while the vessel has been docked at Pasir Gudang. “DOE is investigating if the oil slick is caused by the vessel discharging oil into Malaysian waters,” he said. It is believed that Aranda, owned by a company registered in Singapore, had earlier cleaned another cargo vessel, Zhong Hua (? chemical/oil carrier Zhong Hua 6), bound for a dry dock in Singapore. The cleaning was done in Malaysian waters. Long said the oil was a by-product of cleaning the cargo vessel, called “slop oil”. It is believed that the slop oil could have been deliberately discharged to cut the cost of transporting it to a processing plant. “Slop oil is a scheduled waste by-product and it is prohibited from being brought into the country.” He said the DOE had sent samples to the Chemistry Department to check if they matched those taken from the ship.

2 July 2005Bunga Mas Tujuh (Malaysia)

A Chinese tank ship spilled oil after it collided with a foreign flag container vessel five nautical miles from Xingang port at 11:30 today. No casualties are reported. The Liaoning provincial maritime rescue centre organised emergency rescue work immediately and sent vessels to clean the polluted areas. The rescue operation is still going on. The cause of the accident is being investigated.

4 July 2005. Another 15 vessels were sent yesterday morning to join 11 already cleaning up after two vessels collided at Dalian port in Liaoning Province, sources from the Liaoning Maritime Salvage Administration said. Heavy sea fog means the exact extent of the pollution cannot yet be defined, even though helicopters have joined the operation, said Wang Yuyang, an official with the administration. The collision on Saturday (July 2) between a Chinese oil tanker and a foreign container ship resulted in a big oil spill. Both ships were sailing slowly at the time, so there were no casualties, Wang said. The cause of the accident is being investigated, he said. It happened at 11:30h, when the oil tanker was about five nautical miles from Dalian port. The Liaoning Provincial Maritime Rescue Centre immediately sent ships to the site and started the rescue and clean-up. The 2,500ton oil tanker (Qian Dao You No.1) is owned by Zhoushan Qiandao Shipping Co Ltd, based in Zhejiang Province. Carrying 3,800tons of diesel fuel oil, the ship was heading for Guangzhou. The Malaysia-registered c.c. Bunga Mas Tujuh, started from Japan, passing Tianjin heading for Dalian port. The accident happened amid heavy fog and poor visibility, said Zhang Zhixin, an official with the maritime salvage administration. The No. 5 cabin of the right side of the oil vessel was struck and damaged.