Equipment set to remove oil from a tanker in China

Work is supposed to begin later on Friday as weather conditions have improved, a maritime official informed Reuters.

The number of ships stationed for the oil spill clean-up has also increased to 21. The official from China’s Maritime Safety Administration stated, three days after hundreds of oil spills emptied into the Yellow Sea following a collision in dense fog.

As stated in a notice from the Maritime Safety Administration, ships are banned from entering a 5-mile (8-km) radius from the hit vessel.

Strong winds and foggy weather thwarted plans to begin work on eliminating the cargo on Thursday. While weather conditions changed on Friday morning, the official warned that temperature changes might make operations more challenging later in the day.

The extent of the spill from the Liberia-flagged tanker A Symphony was altered to about 400 tonnes (2,920 barrels) on Thursday, from the original estimate of 500 tons.

Work to siphon off the left cargo from a stricken tanker was supposed to start on Friday. The vessel’s manager spoke on Thursday, two days after hundreds of tonnes of oil dropped into the Yellow Sea following a crash in dense fog.

The tanker was at anchor when a crash took place with the bulk carrier Sea Justice on Tuesday.

The collision created a hole in a cargo tank and a ballast tank onboard A Symphony, and some of the cargo spilled into the Yellow Sea, Goodwood Ship Management announced in a statement on Thursday.