Oil Spill

Kerala govt sues MSC over oil spill, seeks $1.1 billion in compensation

Earlier in May, a Liberian-flagged MSC ELSA3 ship travelling from Vizhinjam to Kochi capsized. The incident resulted in the leakage of fuel and the release of cargo

Oil-drilling ship capsized in Gulf of Suez, killing at least 4, says Egypt

An oil-drilling ship capsized in the Gulf of Suez, killing at least four crewmen and leaving four others missing, authorities said Wednesday. The drilling ship overturned Tuesday evening off the city of Ras Ghareb, on the African side of the Gulf of Suez, the Red Sea's northwestern arm and a crucial shipping route, the Petroleum Ministry said in a statement. There were 30 workers on board when the drilling ship capsized, said Amr Hanafy, governor of the Red Sea province. Rescue teams recovered four bodies and rescued two 22 others who were taken to hospitals, he said. He said ships from the Egyptian navy joined the search-and-rescue efforts which were still ongoing overnight for four missing crewmen. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the drilling ship to capsize and authorities say investigations were ongoing. Local media reported it was being tugged for excavations in another area when it overturned. The capsizing happened in an area called Gabel el-Zeit, a prominent Egypt

Rescue teams remove 1,500 tons of oil from grounded Russian tanker

Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov announced that the damaged tanker would be drained earlier this month but workers found it was continuing to leak oil into the water

Houthi video shows rebels planting bombs on tanker, risking oil spill

Yemen's Houthi rebels released footage on Thursday showing their fighters boarded and placed explosives on a Greek-flagged tanker, setting off blasts that put the Red Sea at risk of a major oil spill. The vessel was abandoned earlier, after the Houthis repeatedly attacked it. In the video, the Iran-backed Houthis chant their motto as the bombs detonated aboard the oil tanker Sounion: God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam. The blasts capped the most-serious attack in weeks by the Houthis in their campaign disrupting the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as well as halting some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen. The Sounion carried some 1 million barrels of oil when the Houthis initially attacked it on Aug 21 with small arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat. A French destroyer operating as part of the European Union's Operation Aspides rescued th

Singapore rushes to clean-up oil slick after boat hits stationary fuel ship

An oil spill caused by a dredger boat hitting a stationary cargo tanker has blackened part of Singapore's southern coastline, including the popular resort island of Sentosa, and sparked concerns it may threaten marine wildlife as a clean-up operation was underway Sunday. The Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima struck the Singaporean fuel supply ship Marine Honor on Friday. It damaged the cargo tank on Marine Honor, which leaked oil into the sea. Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority said in a statement late Saturday the oil leak from the vessel had been contained, and that the oil that escaped from the damaged tanker had been treated with dispersants. But due to the tidal current, it said the treated oil had landed along shorelines including at Sentosa and other southern islands, a nature reserve and a public beach park. Sentosa, which attracts millions of visitors annually, houses one of Singapore's two casinos, golf courses and Southeast Asia's only Universal Studios theme ..

Beaches on Singapore's resort island of Sentosa closed after oil spill

Tanjong Beach Club, which is normally bustling with guests on weekends, was largely empty. Scattered tables with a handful of diners looked over the shoreline

Boat strike causes oil spill, partial collapse of bridge in Texas

A barge slammed into a bridge pillar in Galveston, Texas, on Wednesday, spilling oil into surrounding waters and closing the only road to a smaller and separate island that is home to a university, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries, although officials said one person on the barge was knocked into the water and quickly rescued. The bridge that leads to Pelican Island, north of Galveston, was struck by the barge around 9:50 a.m. when a tugboat backing out of Texas International Terminals, a fuel storage operator next to the bridge, lost control of two barges it was pushing, said David Flores, a bridge superintendent with the Galveston County Navigation District. The current was very bad, and the tide was high. He lost it, Flores said. One of the barges hit the bridge and two telephone poles, he said. The accident came weeks after a cargo ship crashed into a support column of the Francis Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, killing six construction workers.

Oil slick in Red Sea from British-owned ship by Houthis attack: US military

An attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels on a Belize-flagged ship earlier this month caused an 18-mile (29-kilometer) oil slick, the US military said on Saturday. It also warned of the danger of a spill from the vessel's cargo of fertilizer. The Rubymar, a British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo vessel, was attacked on February 18 while sailing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, US Central Command said. The missile attack forced the crew to abandon the vessel, which had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United Arab Emirates. It was transporting more than 41,000 tons of fertiliser, CENTCOM said in a statement. The vessel suffered significant damage, which led to the slick, said the CENTCOM statement, warning that the ship's cargo could spill into the Red Sea and worsen this environmental disaster. The Houthis continue to demonstrate disregard for the regional impact of their indiscriminate attacks, threatening the

CPCL mobilises 4 agencies from Chennai, Mumbai, Paradip to clear oil slick

The Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd, which is engaged in removing oil slick near the Ennore creek here, has mobilised four agencies from Mumbai, Paradip Port and Chennai for the clearing work. The subsidiary of state-run energy major IndianOil Corporation Ltd said it has been working on "war-footing" to "clean up and clear" the areas in coordination with Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), state authorities and the work is "targeted to be completed in the next two-three days." The CPCL, in a statement, clarified that there has been no pipeline leak nor any leakage from the tanks in the refinery and the "refinery is under operation." Around 110 boats with 440 manpower have been deployed for oil slick removal activities. Oil presence in the containment zone is now miniscule, the CPCL said. "The CPCL has mobilised four agencies from Chennai, Mumbai and Paradip for clearing the oil spill. Seven numbers of containment booms of around 1,430 mts have been installed in different

IIT Guwahati develops fabric to tackle oil spills in water bodies

Researchers at IIT-Guwahati on Tuesday said they have developed a fabric that can separate oil from water, which will help in tackling marine pollution caused by oil spills. The silica nanoparticles-coated cotton fabric has been developed using rice husk, an agricultural waste, as the primary source material, said Vaibhav Goud, a professor in the IIT-Guwahati's Department of Chemical Engineering. The aim is to convert an agricultural waste into a sustainable value-added product to mitigate marine oil pollution, he said. Oil spills due to industrial discharge or mishap cause irreversible damage to the aquatic ecosystems. Conventional cleaning techniques such as skimming or in-situ burning are ineffective, costly and cause additional pollution, said Goud, who authoured a paper on the research along with Sutapa Das. "Our technology has multiple beneficial effects on the environment. Rice husk is an agricultural byproduct, rich in silica that is generated in millions of tons every year

Study shows how turtles fared decade after oil spill in US' Kalamazoo River

Twelve years after an oil spill coated nearly 35 miles of the Kalamazoo River, new research confirms that turtles rehabilitated in the aftermath of the disaster had high long-term survival rates

$475 million settlement proposed in longest-running US oil spill

Sixteen wells off Louisiana have been leaking since September 2004

Oil spill from power station spreads along Syria''s coast

A massive oil spill caused by leakage from a power plant inside one of Syria's oil refineries is spreading along the coast of the country, state news agency said and satellite photos showed Wednesday.

Amid threat to beaches, Sri Lanka readies for oil spill from shipwreck

A smoldering shipwreck off the coast and near the capital Colombo threatens that natural ecosystem and the local economy.

Lebanon Foreign Ministry complains to United Nations over oil spill

"Lebanon does not have the capacity to address this environmental disaster and limit its incessant repercussions," the statement said

Iran mostly contains fire after southwest oil pipeline spill

"Most of the fire … has been contained and operations teams are repairing the damaged section of the pipeline," Qasem Arab Yarmohammadi told the Oil Ministry's news agency, SHANA

Japanese ship operator to pay $9 million over Mauritius oil spill

The Japanese operator of a bulk carrier that caused a widespread oil spill off the coast of Mauritius said it will provide $9 million to fund green projects and support the local fishing community

Oil tanker on fire off Sri Lankan coast towed to safety, fire 'localised'

ICG Fast Patrol Vessel Ameya with 1000 litres Oil Spill Dispersants has been deployed to augment pollution response efforts

Sri Lanka navy says no real risk of oil spill on stricken supertanker

Three tug boats, five Sri Lankan navy ships as well as two craft from the Russian navy and three from the Indian navy have been assisting in an operation to fight the fire

Mauritius spill to have an impact far beyond its size on the oil industry

Compared to the biggest oil spills from tankers hauling as much as 300,000 tons of crude across the world's oceans, the volume of oil that spilled from the Wakashio is a drop in the ocean