Fuel has begun seeping from the engine of a small tanker that capsized at an Indonesian port this week, but its hold remains secure, the port master said Wednesday.
The Karisma Selatan, which has a capacity of 500,000 liters (132,000 US gallons), capsized shortly after it was filled with marine fuel at Surabaya’s Tanjung Perak port early on Tuesday. Nobody was injured.
“There is a very small quantity of fuel that has leaked out of the ship, but we already have rubber oil booms in place around the tanker,” port master Rocky Ahmad Suherman told AFP.
Suherman said authorities were coordinating with the ship’s owner as they tried to work out the best way to salvage the ship. Local agent PT Pasifik Selatan operated the tanker.
In initial photographs taken of the capsized boat it appeared to have totally turned over, but later images taken when water levels fell showed that it had only fallen to one side.
An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the mishap and the ship’s captain remained under questioning, Suherman said.