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  WWF 17 Aug 06
Another oil spill off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands

PlanetArk 15 Aug 06
Japan Tanker Spills Crude Oil in East Indian Ocean

Channel NewsAsia 15 Aug 06
Indian Ocean oil spill after Japan ship crash

TOKYO : A Japanese tanker is believed to have spilled 4,500 tonnes of crude oil in the Indian Ocean following a collision with a cargo vessel, the tanker's owner said.

Mitsui O.S.K. line was hopeful the environmental damage would be limited from the spill, which occurred around 300 kilometres (200 miles) west of India's Great Nicobar island.

The tanker Bright Artemis was carrying 250,000 tonnes of crude oil from Saudi Arabia and Oman when it collided Monday with a Singaporean ship that was on fire, a company spokesman said.

"The Bright Artemis approached the vessel to try to save people on the vessel, but accidentally the two collided," the spokesman said. The crew were later rescued by another ship. The collision ripped through the tanker's starboard quarter, causing a hole five meters (17 feet) wide and one meter long as strong winds generated three-meter-high waves.

"It is difficult to calculate at this moment but the oil leak may have hit some 4,500 tonnes," the spokesman said, adding that no one was injured.

After informing Singaporean and Indian authorities of the accident, the 146,463-tonne tanker resumed sailing to Japan as there was no fear of sinking or further oil leakage, the spokesman said.

"Damage to coastlines is expected to be limited as the spilled crude oil was categorized as light oil, which tends to evaporate," the spokesman said. "And the remaining oil is largely expected to sink into the seabed within a week," the spokesman said, adding that the company had no specific measures in place to clean up the leakage.

It may be the largest oil spill accident ever involving a Japanese tanker, Kyodo News said. Japan, the world's second largest economy, is heavily dependent on energy imports. Nearly all of its oil comes from the Middle East.

The spilled crude oil was ordered by Japan's leading oil refiner and distributor, Cosmo Oil. Share prices in Mitsui O.S.K., Japan's second-largest shipping company, ended at 808 yen, down 24 yen or 2.88 percent, while those in Cosmo Oil fell 10 yen or 1.85 percent at 530 yen. The falls were inconsistent with the broader market. The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index fell 0.26 percent but the broader TOPIX index of all first-section stocks rose 0.26 percent on Tuesday.

PlanetArk 15 Aug 06
Japan Tanker Spills Crude Oil in East Indian Ocean

TOKYO - A tanker on its way from the Middle East to Japan spilled about 4,500 tonnes of crude oil in the eastern Indian Ocean, tanker owner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. said on Tuesday.

The leak from the tanker Bright Artemis on Monday afternoon occurred some 290 miles (470 km) west of India's Great Nicobar Island.

The Singapore-flagged tanker, a 260,000-tonne single-hull crude carrier, was transporting about 250,000 tonnes of crude oil from Mina al Fahal port in Oman and Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia, Mitsui O.S.K. said in a statement.

It was rescuing crew members from a cargo vessel that had caught fire and its oil tanks were damaged when the two ships came into contact. Mitsui said the spill had been contained and there was no risk of further leaks.

The impact on the environment should be limited because the spill occurred far from land, it said. There was no plan for any cleanup as the oil should disperse naturally in the sea, the company said.

Indian Coast Guard ships were on alert but officials said since the spill was outside India's exclusive economic zone they did not expect any environmental fallout in the country's waters.

"We hope the oil will churn and disintegrate in the high seas, but we are watching closely," S.P. Sharma, a senior Indian Coast Guard officer, told Reuters by phone from Port Blair, the capital of the archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar. Great Nicobar is the southernmost of the island chain.

A Mitsui spokesman said the tanker's engine was undamaged and it was continuing eastward with the remaining crude. The spokesman said the tanker would stop at a port for repairs to its damaged tanks, though he did not know where it would stop or how long the repairs would take.

The buyer of the crude oil was Cosmo Oil Co., Japan's fourth-largest oil refiner, and the tanker had been scheduled to deliver it to Chiba, near Tokyo. The spokesman said the company has not yet determined whether it can deliver the crude oil to the buyer. (Additional reporting by Bappa Majumdar in Kolkata, India)

WWF 17 Aug 06
Another oil spill off India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Bay of Bengal, India--A Japanese tanker collided several days ago with a small Indian vessel 470km west of the Nicobar and Andaman Archipelago, spilling over 4,500 tonnes of oil into the Indian Ocean.

India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands are an island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean, located southeast of the Indian subcontinent, separated by the Bay of Bengal by about 1,300km.

Based on preliminary reports by the Indian coast guard, there seems to be no immediate threat to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands due to prevalent sea conditions and the distance where the accident occurred.

Although the Japanese tanker spilled light oil, which tends to evaporate rather quickly, WWF-India hopes that the extent of damage to the environment will be minimal, and is calling on the Indian government to put in place stronger safeguards to prevent such incidents in the future.

If the oil spill had reached the Andaman and Nicobar coasts, much of the rich marine biodiversity could have been threatened, including 12,000km2 of coral reefs, and such marine species as dugongs, marine turtles, dolphins, and blue and sperm whales.

Such spills can also severly impact local fishing communities who relay on the ocean for their livelihoods.

India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands were one of the worst-hit areas by the 2004 tsunami, claiming the lives of more than 10,000 people. Most of the 356,000 residents on the remote island chain--the majority living in the capital city of Port Blair--were affected and thousands made homeless.
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