OIL SPILL FROM TANKER COLLISION NOT SERIOUS - MINISTER

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- The oil spill caused by the collision of
a tanker and a bulk carrier in the Straits of Melaka two days ago is not
serious, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Uggah Embas said.

He said a team led by southern state of Negeri Sembilan Department of
Environment (DOE) had been formed to monitor the situation, assisted by the
Marine Department, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the state
government.

"The oil spill is not serious. According to experts, the naphtha fuel
carried by the tanker will vapourise after two hours of exposure to sunlight.

"Efforts are being made to ensure that there are no new oil spills," he
told reporters here Thursday.

He was commenting on the collision of tanker MT Formosa Product Brick and
bulk carrier Ostende Max causing a five kilometre oil spill.

The tanker laden with naptha caught fire after the collision and nine of its
25 crew were still missing.

The British registered bulk carrier with a cargo of coal had anchored off
Port Dickson.

Uggah Embas said the fire on the Liberia registered tanker MT Formosa
Product Brick was put out Thursday morning.
-- BERNAMA