Officials blame Dalian port workers for blasts and oil leak

Authorities in Dalian said the clean-up of oil that leaked into the sea when pipelines exploded on Friday could be finished by the end of this week but environmentalists said it could take several months.

As the clean-up continued, the Ministry of Transport ruled that the explosion was caused by improper operation by port workers, contradicting an initial statement which blamed 'improper operation' by the crew of a tanker, owned by a Singaporean oil company, which was unloading oil at the port.

'[The explosion] happened when a catalyst was added to pipelines on the ground that connected with a crude oil storage tank,' the ministry said in a statement published on its website, and it reiterated that oil ports across the country should strictly follow safety guidelines and conduct thorough safety checks on port devices.

The explosion at the Dalian Xingang oil port spilled an estimated 1,500 tonnes of crude into some 100 square kilometres of seawater - a figure state media has reported but which officials would not confirm. An unnamed PetroChina executive was quoted by Reuters as saying that the port, which houses the country's largest oil reserve bases, was sealed immediately after the explosion. He expected the port to be closed for at least a week, although Dalian Port said in a statement to the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong that the main facilities there had been undamaged.

Meanwhile, thousands of workers scrambled to contain the spillage yesterday, with 10 square kilometres heavily polluted. Dalian sent 800 vessels to clean up the spill and the number is expected to increase to 1,000.

Authorities built 9,000 metres of floating fences to prevent oil spreading, and threw 3.7 tonnes of felt and 22 tonnes of neutralising chemicals onto the water's surface to help absorb the oil.

Dalian government officials told a press conference yesterday morning that the oil spillage could be cleaned up in four to five days. Officials from the city's maritime administration said 24 oil skimmers and 800 vessels had been sent to contain the contamination.