Bunker Fuel Spill Threat in Solomon Islands

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday February 28, 2019

A fuel oil leak from a bulk carrier stranded off the Solomon Islands shows little sign of being plugged.

The Solomon Trader struck a reef on February 5, according to the news provider the Sydney Morning Herald.

But inaction by the firms repsonsible for the ship has seen the Solomon Islands government request assistance from nearby Australia.

The vessel is controlled by Chinese interests and Hong Kong-flagged, according to shipping database Equasis.

Some 75 metric tonnes (mt) of fuel oil have gone into the sea with 600 mt still onboard, according to the report.

Australia may act to clean up the spill which threatens the Rennell Island coral atoll.