An LR tanker owned by Singapore-based shipowner Hafnia, part of the BW Group, has been involved in a bunker spill in the lower Mississippi River in the US.
Late on Friday, the local US Coast Guard unit said it was responding to a discharge of oil from a tanker near Kenner, Louisiana.
The ship involved was identified as the Singapore-flagged 74,996-dwt tanker Hafnia Rhine (built 2008), according to the USCG.
The vessel, which has P&I coverage from the North of England, is said to have discharged the fuel during a bunkering operation with a fuel barge at Ama Anchorage, mile marker 115.
“The crew of the Hafnia Rhine secured the oil discharge, but sector New Orleans pollution investigators estimated up to 2,100 gallons of fuel oil entered the water and contaminated approximately 50-60 barges in the vicinity,” the USCG said.
“The National Response Corporation and Environmental Safety and Health Consulting Services were hired as oil spill removal organisations.
“The OSROs have placed 2,700 feet of containment boom and 3,320 feet of sorbent boom around the affected area including the contaminated vessels and have utilised sorbents to recover oil product.”
“When the alarm was raised, there was an emergency stop on all bunkering operations. The crew immediately activated the vessel response plan to limit any further loss of fuel,” a Hafnia spokeswoman told TradeWinds.
“Regrettably an undetermined amount spilled onto the deck, with a quantity lost overboard into the water. The crew isolated and cleaned the affected area on the deck of the ship.”
The US Coast Guard said it was committed to “overseeing a timely cleanup of oil to mitigate environmental impacts through its coordination with partner agencies and the continued assessment of shorelines and waterways”.
There have been no reports of impact to wildlife, while the cause of the discharge remains under investigation.
Hafnia said it was working with federal and state agencies in the ongoing clean-up operation under an approved plan.
