Indian Coast Guard on alert after oil spill from Haldia-bound Portuguese ship

New Delhi: Indian Coast Guard is on alert as an oil spill from the Haldia-bound Portuguese flag container ship was reported on June 16 about 450 km southeast of Chennai, the Ministry of Defence reported on Friday.

The investigation has revealed that a Portuguese flag container ship MV Devon, on passage from Colombo to Haldia, West Bengal, developed an underwater crack in the fuel tank containing about 120 KL of very low sulphur fuel oil, resulting in spillage of about 10 KL, before any preventive action was taken, the ministry added.

The remaining oil in the tank was transferred to another tank by the ship's crew, the ministry reported.

Manned by a crew of 17, the vessel is carrying 10,795 tonnes of general cargo in 382 containers. The ship continued its voyage to Haldia and is likely to reach today.

"The ICG is in continuous contact with MV Devon and the master has reported that the vessel is stable. ICG pollution response team at Chennai has been alerted and kept on standby. In addition, ICG ships and aircraft deployed at sea are also put on alert in pollution response configuration," the ministry said.