Days after the collision of two ships near Kamarajar port, the oil spill has polluted 24.06 km of the Chennai coastline, according to the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
The New Indian Express reported that the prediction assessment from INCOIS was submitted to Indian Coast Guard. Earlier, it was said that 7.1 km of coastline had been affected due to the oil leaked from one of the ships. In the next 24 hours, about 13.1 km of coastline was polluted due to the heavy beaching of fuel oil and it is estimated to be 24.06 km by Tuesday.
INCOIS conducted the investigation using their oil spill trajectory model. The study was conducted on January 28 from 4am to 4pm. Based on the data provided by MT Dawn Kanchipuram, it was claimed that 2 metric tonnes of Heavy Fuel Oil had spilled due to the collision. On Tuesday, 1.1 metric tonnes had spilled, 0.6 metric tonne had evaporated and 0.3 tonne is floating, TM Balakrishnan Nair, head, Information Services Group of INCOS told The New Indian Express.
The pollutant is expected to move northwards on February 1 or February 2, and it might reach the Marina beach if that happens.
Moreover, the oil spill has reached Neelankarai, which is 20-km from Ennore. TNIE reported that it has polluted Cooum and Adyar rivers.
About 100 workers, including volunteers have joined hands to clean the oil spill in Ernavur.
Source: The News Minute