Coast Guard maintain watch on 10KL oil spill off Chennai

Chennai, June 18 The Indian Coast Guard is monitoring the 10 kilolitres (KL) oil spill into the sea about 450km southeast of Chennai from a Portuguese flag container ship named MV Devon, said an official.

"The quantity of oil spilled is not large. So, the economical option is to wait and watch. Further the distance is also far off," Coast Guard official told on Friday.

Continuing further the official said, further details will be obtained from the ship once it reaches Haldia in West Bengal.

The official added that MV Devon is expected to reach Haldia on Friday night or on Saturday morning.

The vessel was on passage from Colombo to Haldia in West Bengal, carrying 10,795 tonnes of general cargo in 382 containers, manned by 17 crew of mixed nationality.

The Coast Guard on Thursday said that it had received information from the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Colombo late on Wednesday about a mid sea oil spill about 450 km southeast of Chennai.

On investigation, it was found that MV Devon had developed an underwater crack on the left side of the fuel tank containing about 120 KL of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO).

The crack resulted in spillage of about 10 KL of oil into the sea before preventive action was taken and the remaining oil in the tank was transferred to another tank by the ship's crew.

The coastal security agency said the vesses is stable.