Beijing: A Belgian cargo vessel leaked oil into waters off northern China after a Chinese ship crashed into it at a refuelling dock, a state news agency said on Sunday.
The Belgian ship, ‘Lowlands Prosperity’, was docked late Saturday at the Caofeidian port, a steelmaking and energy base in northeastern Hebei province, near Beijing, when a Chinese oil supplying ship hit the vessel`s stern, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The 290-meter-long (950-foot) Belgian vessel had planned to unload and refuel when the Chinese fuel supplier, ‘Jinyou No 1’, crashed into it and damaged its hull, causing an oil leak.
The extent of the oil leak was not immediately clear, but Xinhua cited workers as saying it was temporarily under control. The provincial maritime department dispatched workers and ships to the site but a thick fog hindered cleanup operations Sunday, Xinhua said.
Bureau Report
