An emergency rescue and clean-up drill for a 30-ton oil spill in the Huangpu River was successfully carried out Thursday morning under the leadership of Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration.

The exercise was held on the first anniversary of last year's August 5 oil spill accident and in the same part of the river, Wujing waters in Minhang District.

It simulated the real accident in detail: a small ship crashed into a 20,000-ton bulk coal ship, which began spilling tons of fuel into the water.

The drill kicked off about 9:35 AM with the ship's captain sounding the alarm, alerting the Wujing maritime center and asking for help to control massive fuel leaks from the ship.

Two professional oil clean-up ships and several patrol ships rushed to the scene in several minutes.

The patrol ships restricted the river to one-way traffic and blocked a one-kilometer stretch of the river.

The clean-up vessels poured anti-oil detergents onto the polluted water while circling the ship with rolling oil-absorbing chains to collect the spills.

The vessels also placed five layers of oil-blocking belts to stop the spill spreading.

Up to 30 tons of fire extinguisher foam was pumped onto the river to simulate the large fuel spill. The spill was controlled 30 minutes later and the exercise ended about 10:30am.

Last year's spill poured 85 tons of fuel into the water, endangering the safety of local tap water.

Wujing Power Plant, a major power supplier to the city, is right on the bank near the accident site, while 1.7 kilometers away is the Songpu tap water source that provides 70 percent of the city's tap water.

Zhou Fangzhen, a maritime official who directed the drill on the site yesterday, said they had chosen the same coal-transport ship because such ships are busy in and out of the port every day.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2004)