A German-owned container vessel has leaked oil after developing a crack in a fuel tank off India.

The 1,118-teu Devon (built 2008), operated by TB Marine Shipmanagement of Hamburg, was en route from Colombo in Sri Lanka to Haldia in India when the incident occurred.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said 10 kilolitres (kl) of oil, equivalent to 8.5 tonnes, were spilled into the Bay of Bengal.

The Portuguese-flagged ship developed an underwater crack in the port side fuel tank, according to the coast guard.

The tank contained about 120kl of very low sulphur fuel oil, the ICG said in a statement.

“The crack resulted in spillage of about 10kl of oil into sea before preventive action was taken and remaining oil in tank was transferred to another tank by ship’s crew,” the ICG added.

Voyage continued

The ship was continuing its voyage to Haldia where it was likely to dock on Friday evening.

“The ICG is in continuous contact with Devon and master has reported that the vessel is stable,” the ICG said.

The coast guard pollution response team at Chennai was alerted and kept on stand by.

In addition, ICG ships and aircraft at sea were also put on alert in a pollution response configuration, the ICG said.

The situation is being monitored by the ministry of defence. TB Marine has been contacted for further information.

The last AIS update for the ship shows it at Colombo on 15 June. The Devon has a clean port control record going back to its delivery.

The ship, one of five container vessels in the TB Marine fleet, has insurance through the Swedish Club. The German operator also controls nine product tankers.