Mumbai:
In what could pose an ecological threat to the Mumbai coast, an oil leak was today reported from the sunken cargo vessel MV Rak.
The leak has occurred due to the ingress of water in the cargo hull, officials said.
"Since last night, oil has been observed leaking from the sunken vessel Rak Carrier at an approximate rate of 1.5 to 2 tonnes per hour. The oil has spread about 7 nautical miles around the vessel", a Defence press release said.
Coast Guard ship Samudra Prahari, which was on patrol, responded and used oil dispersant to neutralise the spilled oil.
"Operation 'Paryavaran Suraksha - 2/2011 has been launched by Coast Guard. Another vessel ICGS Sankalp has also been pressed for augmenting the oil spill response", the release added.
Authorities have been directed to tell fishermen to refrain from fishing in the affected area.
Meanwhile, the state Pollution Control Board has been asked to collect and check samples of the spill.
The Panama-flagged vessel sank off the coast of Mumbai on Thursday, with 60,000 metric tonnes of coal, 290 tonnes of fuel oil and 50 tonnes of diesel on board.
Coast Guard sources had earlier said that they could see oil layers around the place where the 225 metre-long vessel sank. But they had described it as "negligible" and said it would not create any ecological problems.
(With PTI inputs)