NEW ORLEANS — An oil tanker collision in the Netherlands has prompted a lawsuit from the Rotterdam Port Authority.
Havenbedrijf Rotterdam N.V. (the Port Authority) filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Louisiana on July 23 against National Chemical Carriers (NCC) over the June 23 incident.
According to the complaint, the Bow Jubail -- a 580-foot, 196-ton oil tanker -- spilled about 217 metric tons of bunker fuel into the port after hitting a jetty.
The tanker collision caused 217 metric tons of oil to spill into the harbour.
The collision, cleanup and “potential claims from companies within the port area” total at least $33.7 million, the complaint states.
The port authority alleges the collision was caused “by the fault, neglect and want of care” of the Bow Jubail, “her crew, and/or its owners and/or managers.”
NCC is believed to be the owner and operator of the oil tanker.
The Rotterdam Port Authority cannot find any agents for NCC, so they are seeking to recoup oil spill response costs, fines and damages by seizing “all its goods, chattels, funds, credits, money and other assets and other property of the NCC." This includes the Bow Riyad, a ship currently in the court's jurisdiction.
According to World Maritime News, six oil spill response vessels were deployed to the area, and a washing facility was opened to clean over 50 inland vessels. The crash disrupted maritime traffic and ships were prevented from entering and leaving the area.
There were 29 total personnel on the Bow Jubail, including 27 Filipinos and two Scandinavians, according to Odfjell, a Norwegian seaborne transportation company also named in online documents as managers of the vessel. There were no reported injuries caused by the crash. Odfjell’s website reported that the vessel was repaired and left Rotterdam on July 7.
Approximately 150 tons of the spilled oil was recovered.