OIL SPILL
r.V’.Z. Press Association) WHANGAREI, Jan. 27. A slick of oil coated part of Whangarei Harbour this morning after an oil spill from a ship berthed at the Marsden Point oil refinery. The spill, noticed at daybreak, was from the 69,525ton (deadweight) Monrovian tanker Easter Queen, which arrived yesterday with a cargo of crude oil and naptha from the Persian Gulf.
According to the refinery general manager (Mr S. Bouma) the spill was caused by leaking ballast valves on the ship. “It was really quite a minor leak,” Mr Bouma said. “We don’t know how
much went in the harbour but it couldn’t have been more than three or four tons.” The slick was crude oil mixed with naptha, and was far lighter and easier to handle than a big spill of bunker oil at the refinery on Christmas Eve. An incoming tide carried the slick to the south side of Whangarei Harbour. The harbour superintendent of the Northland Harbour Board (Captain P. N. McKellar) said that 40 harbour board and refinery staff used eight tugs and other craft to spray dispersant. The slick was virtually cleaned up by noon without any damage to harbour beaches, he said.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33444, 28 January 1974, Page 2
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199OIL SPILL Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33444, 28 January 1974, Page 2
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