MOSCOW/YUZHOSAKHALINSK, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - The fuel spill in the Sea of Okhotsk, caused by a collision involving the American ship Smith Lloyd-27, had been cleaned up, an official from the Emergency Situations Ministry said Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the U.S. ship collided with an unidentified object. The official said that the accident, which resulted in the spillage of 4.4 tons of diesel and the pollution of 500 meters of shoreline, "occurred near the island of Sakhalin in the vicinity of the Chaivo off-shore drilling platform."
The official said that emergency crews had managed to contain the fuel spill and had installed slick bars in a 400-meter radius around the ship. The clean-up operation had been successfully completed.
The emergency operation involved 118 people and 28 vehicles.
A spokesman for Exxon Neftegaz Ltd told RIA Novosti that
Smith Lloyd-27 was an anchor-installation ship contracted by NS Neftegazstroy Ltd to conduct work near the Chaivo off-shore drilling platform (approximately 700 meters off the coast) as part of the Sakhalin-1 project.
Exxon Neftegaz Ltd Vice-President Jim Flood said that the company regretted the accident because its main concern was the protection of the environment.
