No major oil spillage near Tamil Nadu port due to ships’ collision

Chennai, Jan 28 (IANS) Two petroleum product carrying ships collided outside Tamil Nadu's Kamarajar Port on Saturday morning with no major damage to the ships or oil spillage, authorities said.

In a statement, the Kamarajar Port authorities said the collision took place at around 4 a.m. between M.T. BW Maple carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and M.T. Dawn Kanchipuram which had petroleum oil lubricants (POL).

The LPG carrier was outbound and the other one was in-bound.

"There is no damage to the environment like oil pollution and no casualty or injury to persons. Both vessels are safely afloat and anchored. Extent of damage to the vessels is under assessment," the statement said.

"All top officials of port closely monitoring and the situation is under control. An enquiry has been ordered to find the cause of accident. All other ship movements are normal."

An Indian Coast Guard official told IANS that as per an aerial survey done by the security agency's helicopter, a very thin sheen of oil was seen which would dissolve in the sea water.

The Coast Guard has also sent one of its ships to the spot in case of any need, he added.

M.A. Bhaskarachar, chairman and managing director of the port, told IANS that he had no additional information regarding the incident.

The cargo from M.T.Dawn Kanchipuram will be unloaded, a port official said.

"Piloting a ship in and out of harbour is a tricky operation. Further a ship has a lot of inertia and hence it is difficult to stop it," a marine engineer told IANS.

"We always rag a beginner by asking him to check the ship's brake. A ship does not have a brake. Simply put, a ship is slowed down by reversing the propeller rotation," he added.