The Hapag-Lloyd container ship Dublin Express, that spilled fuel oil in a New York container terminal, suffered a hole in its hull.
The hole was detected in the evening hours of March 28 during the ship’s unloading operations in the Global Marine New York Container Terminal, near the Goethals Bridge.
Fuel was escaping from the roughly 40 x 40-centimetre opening, Hapag-Lloyd said, adding that the hole was sealed later that night.
In addition, containment booms were promptly set out to prevent any additional spreading of the oil and to proactively protect nearby nature reserves.
The 4,120 TEU container ship encountered heavy swell while sailing from Port Everglades to New York.
Together with Hapag-Lloyd, Gallagher Marine will be coordinating all appropriate measures on-site.
Hapag-Lloyd earlier said it was working closely with the relevant authorities and interested parties to minimise the impact on people and the environment.
Reports of sheening and tar balls were received from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) on Saturday.
During shoreline assessments conducted Sunday afternoon, members of the Unified Command Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique (SCAT) teams located a 400-yard by two-feet band of tar balls at Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways. The Unified Command intends to deploy crews for cleanup on Monday when the tide is favorable to clean-up any impacted areas.