THE Shanghai maritime authority is investigating a German container ship suspected of being involved in a chemical leak. Maersk Seville is the first foreign ship arriving in Shanghai to face inquiries for allegedly violating newly enacted national regulationson the prevention and control of marine pollution.
Maritime officials said yesterday the ship, now anchored in Yangshan Deep-Water Port, might not be able to leave today as scheduled becausefurther checks were needed. However, so far no environmental damage had been detected, they said.
The ship was built in 2006 and its last known port was north China's Tianjin.
The report of a possible spill on the ship to authorities was delayed for nearly a day. Maritime law enforcement officers first boarded at9:20pm on Saturday soon after port staff reported there was a pungent odor coming from the vessel that had anchored at 3:30pm.While the ship carried two containers registered as carrying dangerous goods, they were not the source of the offensive smell, officials said.
"It was the container next to the dangerous goods that was the source of the smell," said Huang Yongchang, a spokesman for the Yangshanmarine safety team. The goods in the suspect container were registered as "general cargo." According to the investigation, the ship firstdetected the leak about 11pm on Friday but the ship's local agency did not inform maritime officials until 9:43pm the next day.
Authorities said if the ship reported the leak immediately, it would have been halted from docking. Under new maritime laws, vesselsor their local agencies must not delay or conceal reports of leakage or spillage. Offenders face fines of up to 250,000 yuan (US$36,625).Ships and vessels arriving at Chinese mainland ports face tougher fines and more stringent inspections after the rules became effective on March 1.
Maritime supervisors have more powers under the laws, including authorization to open containers they deem to be contamination threats.
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