OSLO, Norway, April 25, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Earlier this morning on her way down the Mississippi river in the U.S., with local pilot onboard, M/T BOW LION was involved in a collision with a barge carrying grain.
OSLO, Norway, April 25, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Odfjell (Other OTC:ODJLY) The incident occurred during darkness and BOW LION anchored up after the incident. There are no injuries to the crew of both the barge and BOW LION. We are evaluating the damage to the ship and have preliminary established a penetration to the hull above the waterline involving two cargo tanks. One of the cargo tanks was empty while the other tank contained Mixed Xylene and about 125 mt of product has been spilled into the river. We have transferred the remaining cargo to another tank onboard the vessel and the leakage has been stopped. Possible further pollution risk is therefore under control. Mixed Xylene is classified as a MARPOL C cargo (the second lowest of four pollution categories) and will normally evaporate.
As normal precaution the crew with tug boat assistance continues the examination of the hull. BOW LION had loaded in the U.S. Gulf area and was en route to the Far East for discharge.
We are fully cooperating with the US authorities.
BOW LION is a 40,272 dwt chemical tanker built in Korea in 1988. The ship is registered in the Norwegian International Ship registry (NIS) and is classed by Det Norske Veritas (DNV). BOW LION is managed by Ceres Hellenic Shipping Enterprises in Greece and has Greek and Filipino crew onboard. The ship is commercially operated by Odfjell ASA in Bergen, Norway and is owned by our subsidiary Odfjell Chemical Tankers AS.
We will update our Internet home page www.odfjell.com as further information is available.
Odfjell is a leading company in the global market of transporting and storing of chemicals and related logistical services. The fleet totals 87 ships, trading both globally and regionally, of which 50 are owned by the group. Odfjell additionally owns and operates tank terminals and tank containers.
Ceres Hellenic Shipping Enterprises is managing a wide range of various vessels. Currently the managed fleet is 52 vessels out of which 22 are chemical tankers.