A collision between two container ships near the mouth of South China's Pearl River has caused the region's biggest oil spill in five years, officials said on Thursday. "It is the biggest oil spill in five years in terms of quantity of oil that has leaked," Gao, a maritime affairs official with the ministry of communications in Beijing, said. "Nearly 450 tonnes (495 tons) have been spilled."
Oil was mainly leaking from the fuel tanks of the MSC Ilona, a container ship registered in Germany, that caused a slick about 17 kilometers long (10.5 miles) and up to several hundred meters wide.
Neither of the ships was in danger of sinking and no injuries were reported following the collision late on Wednesday evening, the state Xinhua news agency said.
The other ship was identified as the Panamanian-registered Hyundai Advance, Xinhua said.
The MSC Ilona was heading to Shanghai from the port of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, while the Hyundai Advance was sailing from Singapore to Shenzhen, the agency said.
Eight decontamination ships from south China's Guangdong Province were on the spot to deal with the leaking oil, while divers were dispatched to plug the leak, it said.