Ships collide; oil spill off Goa's coast

Two ships collided off Goa's coast causing an oil spill.

The incident occurred 3.7 nautical miles off Augada coast, near Goa's famous Calangute beach, on Wednesday.

Authorities said that over 100 metric tonnes of fuel had spilt into the sea.

The spill has not caused any major environmental hazard, Dr U L Joshi, chairman of the Goa Pollution Control Board said.

Prapti, a barge carrying iron ore, collided with a ship, Maritime Wisdom, which is used to load iron ore in the sea, at around 1 am on Wednesday.

Oil started spilling out of Maritime Wisdom soon after the collision.

As the oil started spreading in the sea, the Coast Guard authorities succeeded in stopping the spillage by 4 am.

The Coast Guard is assessing the damage.