Bangkok: A giant oil spill that splurged into action on Saturday off Rayong province has largely been contained, authorities in Thailand say today.
PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTTGC) and the Royal Thai Navy said the slick had been contained today.
Emergency response authorities battled throughout the weekend to fight what could have been a huge environmental catastrophe as oil gushed from a single mooring point where a tanker was sending oil to a pipeline. About 50,000 litres of crude oil spilled into the sea about 20 km southeast of the Map Ta Phut industrial estate.
A 200 m long boom was placed around the floating oil to prevent the slick from spreading further when the disaster started on Saturday morning.
Workers also used oil skimmers to remove the oil and put it in containers on board the ship and a number of emergency response vessels were also deployed.
PTTGC, the owner of the pipeline, on Sunday morning said it had hired an aircraft from the regional office of Oil Spill Response Limited in Singapore to spray oil-spill dispersants to clean up the slick on the sea surface after seven ships had been sent to combat the leak. [29/07/13]
