March 15, 2007

Mystery oil spill destroys Vung Tau shrimp farms

The oil slick that was first noticed over the weekend is killing off shrimps being bred along the sea in Vung Tau town in southern Vietnam with authorities continuing to remain in the dark about its source.

Breed stock began to die Tuesday (March 13) in Long Dien district as water pumped into the shrimp ponds was murky due to the slick.

Nguyen Quang Huy, a local shrimp farmer, said around two million of his breed stock had perished causing losses of VND30 million (US$1,872).

Another farmer, Mai Duc Tu, too suffered with shrimps annihilated in all his five ponds.

Vung Tau's Department of Fisheries has told affected shrimp farmers to temporarily halt its operations in order to collect the water samples for further analysis.

With thousands of local residents mobilised for cleanup operations, 14 tonnes of spilled oil had been cleaned up so far in Vung Tau, the local administration reported.

But authorities admitted they were still trying to pin down the source of the spill, saying they would seek help from the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam).

In the past decade Vung Tau has often been plagued by unidentified oil slicks but this year proves to have taken its heaviest toll, authorities said.

Vung Tau, 120 kilometres southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, is home to a number of beautiful beaches that have attracted tourists in droves.