An oil spill at the Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL) at Ennore early on Sunday has raised fears that it could be a repeat of the 2017 incident.
Port officials, however, said the spill was minor and the recovery process would be completed by Monday.
Around 4 a.m., a merchant vessel MT Coral Stars was discharging oil at the Marine Liquid Terminal 1 at the Port, when the hose snapped and oil started leaking.
“Immediately, the discharge of cargo was stopped by operating the emergency control button,” the port management said in a press release.
The oil had arrived from Kochi and was meant for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.
A source in BPCL said pumping of the fuel was stopped immediately after the leak was noticed.
Initial estimates put the quantity of spillage at 400 litres. The Port authorities said it was less than two tonnes.
The Coast Guard, which was pressed into service to control the spill, too put the estimated amount at two tonnes.
The Coast Guard initially sent an interceptor boat and a helicopter to assess the extent of the spillage. Following this, two Coast Guard fast patrol vessels with pollution response equipment were deployed.
‘Leak contained’
A fence boom was immediately deployed around the vessel by the authorities to arrest the drift of the oil. Officials of the Coast Guard provided guidance to the port authorities on deploying an appropriate spill response strategy.
After the aerial survey was carried out by the Coast Guard, it was observed that the spillage was confined to the breakwater area and mostly within the fenced boom area, the release said.
The Coast Guard mobilised its dedicated pollution control vessel, ICGS Samudra Paheredar from Visakhapatnam to help in the clearing up operations.
The Coast Guard, in a press release, said its timely intervention resulted in effective containment of the spill, preventing a major environmental hazard.
Fishermen of Kasimedu and Ennore were agitated on hearing about the spillage. K. Bharathi of the South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association said that when projects to construct ports were announced, promises were made that every possible safety measure would be taken to protect the people and the environment.
“Two tonnes of oil is not a small quantity. If this enters the sea, once again the livelihood of fishermen would be affected. This is the second such spill in two years, which only makes one wonder as to what safety protocols are in place,” he said.
‘Worrisome trend’
Environmental activists and experts said this was a worrisome trend.
“The nature of the oil is quite similar to the bunker oil that leaked last time. It may form slush and it would not be easy to suck it out. Official reports say that the spill has been contained, but it remains to be seen whether it stays or moves. Also, what is done to the collected oil needs to be monitored. The oil collected last time has been dumped in long pits and bio-remediation was not successful,” said one activist.
In 2017, two ships collided at the port, causing an oil spill of more than 251 tonnes, affecting over 35 km of Chennai’s coastline.
More than 2,000 volunteers were involved in the clean-up operations, some of which were done using buckets to remove hazardous bunker oil without provision of any safety equipment that led to large-scale criticism of the way the clean-up was handled.
Fishing activity in the region was affected for nearly three months, with the spill affecting the aquatic life on the coast.
