Cracked Containership No Longer Leaking Oil in NY Harbor

Oil is no longer leaking from the cracked hull of a containership moored in the Port of New Yok and New Jersey, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

A sheen around the Danaos-owned YM Mandate was first reported to the Coast Guard on Monday after the ship arrived at the Global Container Terminal in Bayonne, N.J., from Halifax, N.S.

A unified command team consisting of the Coast Guard, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Gallagher Marine Systems is responding since after the Coast Guard confirmed the Liberian-flagged vessel was leaking oil from a crack in its hull.

Oil containment boom and absorbent pads are deployed around the 300 meter long, 6,572 TEU capacity YM Mandate, and skimming vessels continue to remove oil from the water. The amount of fuel oil spilled is unknown.

Fuel oil will be pumped from the affected tank to a barge alongside the damaged containership until the 462,297 gallon capacity tank is emptied and repairs to the hull can be made, the Coast Guard said.

The containership, built in 2010 by South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries, activated its Coast Guard-approved vessel response plan by making notifications and activating response resources.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.