Asia-Pacific

Oil spill takes place off Mumbai coast

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-01-21 22:06

MUMBAI - An oil spill took place Friday from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) fields off the Mumbai coast here.

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"The initial assessment of the extent of oil spill is about one mile long," the ONGC said in a statement. The leak was detected near the Bassein oil and gas field platform, about 80 km from the Mumbai Coast.

Special vessels equipped to repair the pipeline have been sent by the ONGC to the site of the leak. In order to ensure minimum damage to the environment, the Coast Guard has also activated the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan," said the ONGC in the statement.

The ONCG added that the connected oil and gas wells are being closed for safety reasons. The production loss may last for about three hours only.

"Due to these interim measures, a loss of 25,000 barrels is anticipated," the ONGC said.