Indian Coast Guard (ICG) received information from Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Colombo in late hours of June 16, 2021 about a mid-sea oil spill about 450 kms South East of Chennai. On further investigation, it was revealed that a Portuguese flag Container ship MV Devon, on passage from Colombo to Haldia, West Bengal, developed an underwater crack in the fuel tank containing about 120 KL of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil
The crack resulted in spillage of about 10 KL of oil into the sea before preventive action was taken and remaining oil in tank was transferred to another tank by the ship’s crew. The vessel is carrying 10,795 tonnes of general cargo in 382 containers and manned by 17 crew. The ship is continuing its voyage to Haldia and likely to reach on June 18, 2021.
The ICG is in continuous contact with MV Devon and the master has reported that the vessel is stable. ICG Pollution response team at Chennai has been alerted and kept on standby. In addition, ICG ships & aircraft deployed at sea are also put on alert in pollution response configuration.