Cargo ships collide in southern India, no casualties

Two cargo ships carrying petroleum products collided with each other at a busy port in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the wee hours of Saturday.

No casualties or damages to the environment has been reported.

The mishap took place outside Kamarajar Port in Tamil Nadu around 4 a.m. local time when outbound M.T. BW Maple carrying liquefied petroleum gas and in-bound M.T. Dawn Kanchipuram containing petroleum oil lubricants dashed into each other, the port authorities said in a statement.

"There is no damage to the environment like oil pollution and no casualty or injury to persons. Both vessels are safely afloat and anchored. Extents of damage to the vessels are under assessment," the statement said.

An inquiry has been ordered to find the cause of the accident, it said, adding all other ship movements are normal.

Located on the Coromandel Coast about 24 km north of Chennai Port, Kamarajar is the 12th biggest port of India. It has six cargo handling berths with a total capacity of 30 million ton per annum.

source: Xinhua