Authorities in Thailand are cleaning up an oil leak following the rupturing of a pipe while a Greek VLCC was discharging a cargo.
The incident took place on Sunday evening at a Thai Oil facility in Koh Sichang.
Puripat Teerakunpisut, deputy director-general of the marine department, told reporters on Tuesday morning that the oil spill occurred when the 317,000-dwt Panama-flag Kallista (built 2010) was discharging crude into a main pipeline.
A cargo of Arab light oil was being offloaded via single mooring buoy No.2 when the leak occurred.
The incident lasted about five minutes and about 60,000 litres of crude poured into the sea, the official added.
The tanker was carrying 273,000 tonnes of crude.
The ship had arrived from Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia.
The tanker remained moored at the site on Tuesday.
The pollution control department and the marine department set up a prevention and mitigation centre to deal with the drifting slick.
The pipeline valve was closed when the problem was spotted, and booms were laid around the vessel to contain the spill.
5km slick detected
On Monday morning, a drone was flown over the scene and detected an oil slick about 5 km long.
Dispersant was used to break up the oil.
Water samples were due to collected for an analysis and evaluation of the environmental impact, the Bangkok Post reported.
Thai Oil said it had taken immediate action in line with its emergency oil spill plan.
The oil company is investigating the accident, with support from the government and the private sector.
Thai Oil said the spill did not impact refinery operations and the firm’s insurance covers the costs.
The VLCC’s Greek manager Altomare has been contacted for comment.
