Ship leaking fuel off Norway after running aground

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Jul 2009

A Chinese-owned dry-bulk vessel is leaking fuel after running aground near Langesund on the Norwegian coast during stormy conditions overnight, rescue authorities said on Friday. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre said 16 sailors had been evacuated from the vessel and seven remained on the ship. The entire crew are Chinese nationals. "We have put a request to the company (operating the ship) to put pressure on the captain (to abandon the vessel) because Norwegian coast guard reports indicate the ship may not survive," rescue mission spokesman Stein Solberg told Reuters. He said a helicopter was standing by to evacuate the rest of the crew from the Panama-registered "Full City" vessel, which ran aground without cargo but with up to 1,120 tonnes of fuel on board. It is operated by Hong Kong-based Cosco .
Television channel TV2 showed pictures of oil coming ashore along the North Sea coastline in southern Norway -- a popular summer holiday area west of the Oslo fjord.
A Norwegian representative of the World Wildlife Fund said the spill could affect a large number of birds from a nearby sanctuary and called on volunteers to help with the clean-up.

Source: Reuters