Ship Collision Sparks Environmental Disaster in Bangladesh

An oil tanker carrying around 350,000 liters of oil partially capsized on the Shele River, Bangladesh early Tuesday morning, threatening a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is the area’s first big oil disaster.

The OT Southern Star 7 oil tanker had moored in dense fog when an empty ship collided with it, without seeing it. Latest reports from local media indicate that the oil slick has spread around 25 kilometers, threatening the fragile ecosystem. Rescue vessels have now salvaged the tanker.

A Shipping Ministry official stated that two tanks housing 120,000 liters of oil remained intact, but the other four tanks with two-thirds of the ship's oil have already been spilled.

Authorities have launched a small-scale clean-up, but warned they lack the hardware and experience for a major effort. Responders are trying to remove the fast spreading oil with the traditional method of skimming it off the surface with banana leaves and bamboo sticks.

A government ship carrying 10,000 liters of oil dispersants was en route to the spill site to begin a more substantial clean-up. According to the AFP, Bangladesh's state-run petroleum corporation was also using buoys to restrict the slick, while local fishermen have been ordered to use nets to try to stop the oil entering small canals.

The Shele River is not open to shipping, as it passes through the habitat of several fragile species, but since the legal shipping route collapsed due to heavy siltation in 2011, vessels have been using alternative routes through restricted forest areas to save time and costs. Environmentalists have been calling on the government to stop the use of illegal shipping channels for years.

Authorities have now banned ships from using the river channel until further notice.

The Centre for Environmental and Geographical Information Services (CEGIS), an independent body of the Bangladeshi Ministry of Water Resources, had warned that movement of ships in the channel will cause environmental damage. While the United Nations urged the government to impose a complete ban on commercial vessels in the Sundarbans, noting that these kind of incidents have long-term environmental consequences.

The Shele River is a sanctuary for two sweetwater dolphin types, both endangered, and is also a unique habitat for a number of other rare and endangered species including the Bengal tiger, Indian otter and spotted Deer. Such a large oil spill is predicted to take a heavy toll on the world’s largest mangrove forest.