A bulk carrier grounded in the Solomon Islands for the past two weeks is said to be leaking oil.
Water has breached the hull of 74,000-dwt Solomon Trader (built 1994), a National Disaster Management Office spokesman told English newspaper The Guardian.
The spokesman declined to confirm an oil spill, but an anonymous government source told the newspaper that oil was starting to spread as a slick from the bulker.
The ship, which is stranded in Kangava Bay, off Rennell Island, has gasoil and heavy fuel oil onboard.
The location is close to East Rennell, which is the globe’s largest raised coral atoll and a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Efforts to salvage the ship have been delayed by category-2 cyclone Oma and rough weather.
Salvage crews and oil spill response teams were en route to the site on Tuesday with equipment from the capital Honiara, the government source told The Guardian.
The vessel ran aground on a coral reef during a storm on 4 February after loading bauxite from the nearby Bintang mine.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is reportedly looking at ways it might offer assistance.
