"The oil slick spread
about seven kilometers toward Can Gio district, home
of several aquacultural farms," said Truong Thanh
Cong, Director of Ba Ria Vung Tau's Department of
Sciences, Technology and Environment.
"It also spread three
kilometers toward Vung Tau province but it has not hit
the beaches there", he added.
"However, the spill is
under control. By Friday afternoon, one day after the
ship sank, more than 300 tonnes of oil were absorbed
out of the tanker. We expect to lift the ship up at
the end of Saturday."
Six compartments of the
tanker had been locked before it sanked. The oil
consequently leaked from small gaps in the vessel.
But state media said at
least 40 tonnes of harvested clams have been
discovered infected with oil, and another 7400 acres
in danger of being destroyed in Can Gio district.
This is the second oil
spill in Ho Chi Minh City this year, after the January
collision in Saigon river between a cargo ship and a
fuel tanker carrying 500 tonnes of oil.
