Haldia (WB): About 100 litres of oil from the grounded Indonesian cargo ship 'Sigitika Biru' seeped into the Bay of Bengal near Haldia port on May 20 evening, after the vessel tilted 90 degrees on its starboard side, but the spillage had been contained by the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard commandant commander R K Wadhwa said the spillage from the ship's service tank, which had developed a leak, had been neutralised by spraying oil spill dispersant chemical from a Dornier aircraft on the nearly 20 to 30 oil patches.

The ship carrying 150 tonnes of diesel and 6,327 tonnes of soda ash in its hold, had tilted to an angle of 90 degree on its starboard side under water on the sand surface, on which it had remained grounded since May 15, Wadhwa said.

He said there was no danger of marine pollution from the soda ash as the cargo was kept in plastic coated bags, which were not easily soluble. The tank containing diesel too was unaffected.

A Coast Guard ship 'Sarang' had come from Chennai with a helicopter on board to assist in monitoring operations. Besides, the Dornier aircraft was making two sorties in the morning and evening to monitor the spillage, Wadhwa said.

Representatives of the ship's agents, Eastern Bulk Ship Management Company of Singapore had arrived in Haldia on May 20 and had contacted the Coast Guard authorities on May 19. Offloading however, had not been started.

The Indonesian ship, sailing from Porbander in Gujarat to Chittagong in Bangladesh, with 22 crew members on board was grounded near the Sand Heads off Haldia port on May 15 after springing a leak when it sailed through a severe cyclonic storm in the Bay.

PTI