Indians battle ship oil leak

INDIAN coastguards yesterday battled choppy seas, monsoon rain and strong winds to contain oil from a badly listing container ship that collided with another vessel off the city of Mumbai.

The Panamanian-registered MSC Chitra has been leaking fuel into the sea off India’s financial capital since the collision on Saturday, raising environmental fears about its impact on the coastline.

The 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. Oil had spread around the ship and was drifting towards the shore.