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.

Defence ministry spokesman Captain M Nambiar told AFP that the vessel’s position was “precarious”.

Broken patches of oil have already been cleared around Elephanta Island, a World Heritage Site and tourist attraction in Mumbai Harbour, the defence ministry said in a statement.

But environmental emergency teams said oil had been discovered on beaches on the mainland across the Arabian Sea from the landmark Gateway of India monument.