Pipe Bursts At Kamarajar Port; Chennai Faces Its Second Oil Spill In Two Years 

Chennai is witnessing its second oil spill in two years as more than two tonnes of thick furnace fuel oil (FFO) spilt when a hose snapped while dispensing oil at the Marine Liquid Terminal-1 located at the Kamarajar Port in the early hours of Sunday (November 18), reports The New Indian Express.

The oil spilt into seawater after the Motor Tanker Coral Stars hose suddenly ruptured at 4:03 am. P Raveendran, Chairman of Kamarajar Port, revealed that the preliminary assessment made showed two tonnes of oil spilt into the sea.

"The emergency response mechanism was immediately activated, and all agencies including Coast Guard swung into action, the spillage was confined to the breakwaters as the fence boom was immediately deployed around the vessel," he said.

The port chairman added saying that, "Ariel survey was also done by the Coast Guard with the seaside reconnaissance by the interceptor boat. The recovery of spilt oil immediately commenced with the help of skimmers and absorbent pads. The recovery process will be completed by tomorrow,"

The Indian Coast Guard, on the other hand, said that it was ascertaining the leakage to gauge the amount of oil lost and has deployed two fast patrol vessels equipped with pollution response equipment to contain the spill.

Meanwhile, Director of State Fisheries, G S Sameeran, said the oil spill had been contained and that his department had collected samples from the fishing community which lives nearby. He also added that there were no reports of fish dying due to the oil spill.

Despite it being the second spill in as many years, the Tamil Nadu government is yet to have a State Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (SOS-DCP) to combat situations like these. IIT Madras has prepared an independent oil spill contingency plan and submitted it to the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.