Japans Largest Oil Spill Threatens Tokyo Area

A supertanker inexplicably struck an undersea reef in calm waters near this port city on Wednesday, tearing open its hull and leaking an estimated 13,400 tonnes of crude oil in Japans worst ever oil spill.

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto declared the oil spill from the Panamanian-registered supertanker Diamond Grace a national emergency and scores of coastguard, fire-fighting and oil-cleaning ships were mobilised to stop its spread. We understand it is the worst accident of its kind, said Transport Minister Makoto Koga, who is heading the emergency operations. It was not clear why the single-hulled, 259,999-deadweight tonne tanker struck the undersea

 

Nakanose reef off Yokohama, one of the most well-known undersea hazards in Tokyo Bay.

At its shallowest point, the reef is only 12 metres (37 feet) below the surface.

The accident took place for no clear reason in the daytime, in clear weather and calm seas.

The coastguard was having difficulties containing the oil spill, officials said, but they announced late in the day that the ship was heading to a berth under its own power, which was expected to help contain the amount of spilled oil.

Spokesman Kenji Koyanagi at the regional headquarters of the coastguard or Maritime Safety Agency in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, said there was no oil fence large enough to contain the entire oil spill, which measured 5.5 km by 4.5 km (3.4 miles by 2.8 miles).

Right now, we are putting up an oil fence to stop the slick on the west (Yokohama) side and using mats to absorb the oil, Koyanagi said. The agency was also using oil absorbants to isolate oil slicks on the east side.

But he said soon after 6 p.m. (0900 GMT) that the leaks may have been halted.

We believe the oil has stopped leaking from the ship but we have not been able to confirm that, he told reporters.

The coastguard issued a warning to ships to stay clear of the area, saying there was a danger the oil could catch fire.

Strong southerly winds shifted the oil spill towards the northern end of Tokyo Bay, the spokesman said.

We are worried where the oil slick will wash up, Prime Minister Hashimoto said. That is the most urgent issue. I am worried because this is close to populated areas and connected to sea routes, Hashimoto told reporters.

Schoolchildren in the Edogawa district of Tokyo at the northern end of Tokyo Bay complained of a nauseating gasoline-like odour believed to be from the oil spill, and 13 of them were taken to hospital, Tokyo city officials said.

It smelled like burning tyres, one teacher at the Shimo-Kamta Elementary school in Edogawa told NHK public television. It was the bad smell of gasoline, one pupil said.

Scores of residents around the heavily populated and heavily industrialised bay have called police and fire stations complaining of foul smells.

It is the largest oil spill accident ever in Japan, far surpassing the 6,000 tonnes (44,700 barrels) that leaked from a tanker in the western port of Niigata in 1971.

In January this year, the Russian tanker Nakhodka leaked 5,200 tonnes (about 36,400 barrels) of heavy fuel oil when it broke in two in the Sea of Japan. The Russian tanker was carrying 19,000 tonnes (about 133,000 barrels) of fuel oil.

The Transport Ministrys oil-cleaning ship Seiryu-maru, the largest of its kind in Japan, left the central Japan port of Nagoya on Wednesday and will arrive in Tokyo Bay at noon on Thursday, ministry officials said.

The Seiryu-maru is equipped with two powerful pumps each of which can suck in 500 tonnes of oil per hour.

Two of the tankers 14 oil storage tanks were ripped open when the ship scraped the reef about 6.5 km (four miles) off Yokohamas Honmoku Pier on Wednesday morning, the coastguards Yokohama spokesman said.

The leak from one of the ruptured tanks had stopped and agency divers were investigating the other rupture, he said.

None of the 25 crewmembers were hurt.

The Diamond Grace was carrying 257,000 tonnes of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates to a refinery in Kawasaki, between Yokohama and Tokyo.

The single-hull tanker, built in 1994, was chartered by Mitsubishi Oil and operated by a subsidiary of Japans largest shipping company, Nihon Yusen KK. A spokesman for Mitsubishi Oil said it was not clear how the accident might affect operations at its 75,000 barrel-per-day Kawasaki refinery.