Asia/Pacific News
Berge Bureya Confirms Bunker Spill from VLOC in Strait of Malacca
Berge Bulk Maritime (Berge Bulk) Wednesday confirmed that one of its Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs), Berge Bureya, spilled an undefined quantity of bunkers into the waters off Malaysia in the Malacca Strait Tuesday morning.
"A quantity of bunker fuel was spilled and Berge Bulk Maritime is cooperating closely with the Malaysian authorities in the management of the spill and the vessel was boomed following the incident. The oil leak was stemmed quickly," explained the company in the statement.
The company notes that crew "immediately" enacted emergency procedures to halt the spill upon identification.
"There were no injuries to any crew-members and there was no grounding or involvement of any third parties," said Berge Bulk.
The vessel is said to have been underway from Singapore to Brazil at the time of the spill.
The company says it has launched an investigation into the causes of the incident, and will provide further information as it becomes available.
In May, Ship & Bunker reported that Malaysian authorities said that a 15 tonne fuel oil spill, which occurred in Penang's North Channel earlier that month, may have been caused by a Port Klang-registered oil tanker that was receiving a fuel delivery at the Prai Bulk Cargo Terminal at the time of the spill.
