Nearly 600 liters of bunker oil got spilled overboard in New Maas river, in the old port of Vlaardingen, while pumping heavy fuel from the bunker tanker “Texas” onto a ship (name removed) at a jetty of Vopak in the afternoon of May 11, 2016.
The leak said to have caused because of the miscalculation of free space in fuel tank by crew on board the ship. Tanker’s owner was fined with safety fine of 4000 Euros. While this news remains unconfirmed, the video reveals the bunker barge name “Texas” and the investigation is on-going.
While the above news may remain, we request all seafarers to be cautious when bunkering and recommend to check soundings. If there are automated tank gauging, we recommend to cross check the automated gauges with manual soundings. When topping up the tanks, strictly reduce the pumping rates and rely on manual soundings.
Source: Dumpert
