Gulf of Mexico receives its regular ration of oil spill

Tanker collision near Texas spills oil into Gulf

About 20.000 gallons of the fuel were spilled into the Gulf of Mexico after a crude oil tanker collided with a service vessel in the Gulf of Mexico near Texas, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday.

“The accident occurred in rough seas late Tuesday after the tanker finished receiving crude oil from a supertanker too large to enter port 46 miles southeast of Galveston. Ship-to-ship oil transfers, called lightering , are common and often involve a third vessel servicing the operation.” Reuters reported.

The 820-foot (250-meter) Liberian-flagged, Russian-operated Krymsk, collided with the 166-foot lightering service vessel AET Endeavor, after the Krymsk had finished taking Arabian crude oil from a larger ship, the Vega Star.

A pierced fuel tank  caused the oil spill, believed to be No. 6 bunker fuel, officials said.

The tanker was carrying a cargo of more than 70,000 metric tons of crude, which escaped damage [this time,] a spokesman for Krymsk operator Novorossiysk was reported as saying.

Endeavor, owned by American Eagle Tankers, was not seriously damaged, reports said.

Summary!

Krymsk, a Liberian-flagged tanker, operated by Russian Novorossiysk, after lightering Arabian crude oil from a supertanker, Vega Star, too large to enter port near Galveston, Texas, collided with one of its service ships spilling bunker fuel into the giant runoff and tailing pond south of Texas, aka the Gulf of Mexico.

Meanwhile the magnitude of the Australian ecological disaster, the oil spill in Timor Sea, grows daily.

Related New Links:

• Timor Sea oil spill costs $5.3m – so far
• First attempt to plug oil leak fails
• Second attempt to plug oil leak fails

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• Australian Oil Disaster May Get a Lot Worse

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