Oil belt found after Singaporean ship hits reef

An oil belt has been discovered near where a Singapore-registered ship struck a reef last week off southeast China's Fujian province, local maritime authorities said Tuesday.

The belt is about three kilometers long and 200 meters wide. The Fujian Maritime Rescue Center has dispatched 45 vessels from nearby cleaning and salvage companies and organizations to join the cleanup, said Huang Shifeng, deputy chief of the provincial ocean and fishery department.

The ship, named Bareli, ran into the reef and was grounded near Jiangyin Port at 9:15 p.m. last Thursday, when it was on its way from the city of Ningbo to the provincial capital Fuzhou. All 21 crew were rescued.

Among the 1,913 containers loaded on the ship, 101 were filled with dangerous goods such as caustic soda and herbicide. By Tuesday, 61 containers had been unloaded, while 10 had been retrieved from the water, said Chen Jian'an, an official with the provincial maritime bureau.

The ship had 1,137 tonnes of fuel left and another 114 tonnes of light diesel oil when it sank. Five tonnes of fuel had been pumped out from the tank, said Chen.

Local marine and environmental protection departments have strengthened water quality tests to closely monitor the impact of the oil spill, he said.