More than 170 cubic metres of diesel oil split to the sea when two cargo ships collided off shore the Ba Lang An cape of central Quang Ngai province on December 23.

According to Phan Hong Khanh, deputy head of the Dung Quat port’s service bureau, a 1,800-tonne vessel, Hai Xuan 09, was shipping more than 1,700 tonnes of cement from Thanh Hoa to Khanh Hoa, when it hit Ha Loc 08, a 17,000-tonne oil tanker carrying 1,300 tonnes of diesel oil on route from southern Vung Tau port to central Da Nang port. The oil tanker was seriously damaged.

Quang Ngai province has sent a rescue team to assess environmental pollution caused by the accident and asked for measures to prevent oil from spreading on sea.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

Source: VNA