Japan tanker spills crude oil in east Indian Ocean

TOKYO, Aug 15 (Reuters) A tanker carrying crude oil from the Middle East to Japan spilled oil in the eastern Indian Ocean, the biggest spill involving a Japanese ship owner, tanker owner Mitsui O.S.K.

Lines Ltd. said today.

About 4,500 tonnes of crude leaked from the tanker Bright Artemis yesterday afternoon some 470 km west of Great Nicobar Island when its oil tanks were damaged.

The Singapore-flagged tanker, a 260,000-deadweight-tonne single-hull crude carrier, was transporting about 250,000 tonnes of crude oil from the Mina al Fahal port in Oman and Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia, Mitsui OSK said in a statement.

Its crew was rescuing staff from a cargo vessel that had caught fire, and the vessel touched the tanker, damaging its crude tanks.

Mitsui OSK said the spill had been contained and there was no risk of further leaks. The company said the impact to the environment should be limited because the spill occurred far from from land. It did not say when clean-up work would start.

The tanker's engine was undamaged and it was continuing eastward with the remaining crude, a Mitsui OSK spokesman said.

The spokesman said the tanker would stop at a port for repairs to the damaged tanks, though he did not know where it would stop or how long the repairs would take.

The buyer of the crude oil was Cosmo Oil Co., Japan's fourth-largest oil refiner, and the tanker had been scheduled to deliver it to Chiba, eastern Japan.

The spokesman said the company has not yet determined whether it can deliver the crude oil to the buyer.

REUTERS MS RK1110