Vessel collision leads to oil spill in Germany's Cuxhaven Port

Authorities in Germany have confirmed that a collision between two vessels earlier this week has resulted in the spillage of oil into the waters of the Port of Cuxhaven.

The incident occurred on the morning (local time) of Wednesday, July 23, when the locally-registered product tanker Capella and the Dutch-flagged offshore supply vessel Coastal Legend collided with each other in the port's outer harbour.

An estimated six cubic metres of diesel leaked into the harbour's waters following the collision.

Firefighters later arrived at the scene and deployed containment booms as a precaution while the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (Technische Hilfswerk; THW) used skimmers to collect some of the oil on the surface. An oil recovery vessel has also been deployed to the area in response to the incident.

Officials assured that the incident did not result in injuries and that shipping traffic in the nearby Elbe River had been unaffected by the spill.

The response efforts continued into the late evening of Wednesday. According to the latest reports, the THW and other local partners were able to recover approximately 80 cubic metres of oily water, which was then pumped into a waiting tanker for eventual disposal.