Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Australia
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
Malaysia
Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam
'Almost nil oil spill' now from stricken ship off Mumbai
AFP - Tuesday, August 10
Send
IM Story
Print
'Almost nil oil spill' now from stricken ship off Mumbai
MUMBAI (AFP) - – Indian coastguards on Monday said that leaking oil from a stricken container ship that collided with another vessel off Mumbai had reduced to a trickle, but fears about its impact on the coastline remained.
Ships and aircraft involved in the clean-up operation reported "almost nil oil spill" from the MSC Chitra on Monday evening, officials said in a statement, two days after the collision.
Six coastguard ships have been battling choppy seas, monsoon rain and strong winds to contain what the country's shipping ministry described as a "heavy oil spillage" from the badly listing vessel's fuel tanks.
The Panamanian-registered ship was lying at a sharp 60-degree angle to its port side about five nautical miles off shore, with containers and other cargo falling into the murky water, an AFP photographer at the scene said.
The shipping ministry said 120 containers in all had fallen from the deck and an operation was under way to retrieve them.
Thirty-one containers on deck were loaded with "dangerous cargo" of corrosive, toxic and flammable materials.
"It is not clear whether these containers have also fallen off but considering that the vessel is almost heeled over, it would be fair to assume that these containers would fall off, if not already in water," it said.
The vessel was carrying 2,700 tonnes of fuel oil and 300 tonnes of diesel oil. Some 1,200 tonnes of fuel oil was in the ruptured tanks on the ship's port side, the ministry said.
The coastguard said in a statement: "The oil spill is a potential threat to the marine environment given its chemical characteristics, however as of now the situation is under control."
Broken patches of oil have been sighted on the water across the Arabian Sea from the landmark Gateway of India monument, including around the Elephanta Island World Heritage Site, but have now been cleared, it added.
Environmental emergency teams put on alert since the collision on Saturday said earlier they were analysing oil samples found on mainland beaches adjacent to Mumbai.
A coastguard helicopter has been dropping oil-dispersal spray on the slick.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for a report from the shipping ministry into the spill, while environment minister Jairam Ramesh told parliament that legal action had been launched against the ships' owners.
Fishing in the area has been suspended and Mumbai's port -- India's busiest for container vessels -- has been closed for the night.
A salvage operation is expected to begin only at the end of the month, when bad weather subsides, the shipping ministry said.
The MSC Chitra, which was laden with 1,219 containers, was leaving Mumbai when it was in a collision with the MV Khalijia-III, another Panamanian-registered ship, coming into port.
Both ships developed cracks in the incident and 33 crew members were rescued. But police said one of its officers drowned after he fell off a four-man speedboat patrolling the area around the stricken ship.
"The other three constables also could not rescue him as none of them, including the victim, knew swimming," a police spokesman said.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
Death toll in China mudslides jumps to 337 AFP - 12 minutes ago
UN to launch appeal as Pakistan floods affect 13.8 million AFP - 15 minutes ago
North Korea fires artillery into sea as tensions rise AFP - 1 hour 23 minutes ago
Global warming threatens Asian rice production: study AFP - 1 hour 59 minutes ago
Landslides complicate Pakistan flood relief efforts Reuters - 2 hours 16 minutes ago
News Search
Top Stories
Putin cuts Russia harvest forecast
BP pays three billion dollars into oil spill fund
Campbell said she got diamond from Taylor: Farrow
BP oil spill response costs hit $6.1 bln
German trade data bodes well for European growth
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Sauna contest in Finland cut short as Russian dies
Massive ice island breaks off Greenland glacier
Campbell said she got diamond from Taylor: Farrow
BP spends $6.1 bln on Gulf spill response
Former HP boss reaches settlement with accuser
More Most Viewed »
Argentine students crack three-decade-old murder mystery
40 US billionaires pledge half wealth to charity
World's first full face transplant man appears on TV
Calcium supplements linked to heart attacks: study
Massive ice island breaks off Greenland glacier
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
World Cup 2010