The Panamanian-registered container ship MSC Chitra that had Saturday collided with the MV-Khalijia-II, a St. Kitts registered ship, tilts in the Arabian Sea, close to Mumbai, India, Monday, Aug 9, 2010. Indian coast guard ships and helicopters are working to try and contain an oil spill from the dangerously tilting container ship following the collision near Mumbai, a spokesman for India's defense ministry said Monday.
MSC Chitra had collided with MV Khalijia-111, about 10 kms off the Mumbai coast. Oil was leaking from two of the 12 tanks of MSC Chitra which had got damaged due to the collision. The two tanks could together hold 879 tonnes of oil, sources in the Coast Guard said. The accident caused the vessel to run aground and list heavily to one side. The ship had 2,262 tonnes of oil and up to 400 tonnes of it had leaked into the Arabian sea, threatening marine life and ecology along the Mumbai coastline including in the mangroves.
