The oil spill site is located 450 km southeast of Chennai and occurred while the oil ship was heading from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to the industrial port city of Haldia, in the Indian state of West Bengal, the Daily News and Analysis portal said.

Meanwhile, the ship is in perfect operational conditions and continues journey to reach its destination on Friday, the source added.

The Indian Coast Guard was informed of the oil spill by Colombo Maritime Rescue and Coordination Center, and keeps in contact with the cargo ship.

An investigation revealed that a MV Devon ship´s 120,000 L low-sulfur fuel tank cracked underwater. As a result of the fault, 10,000 L of oil spilled into the sea, while the crew took preventive measures by transferring the remaining contents to another container.

pgh/Pll/jha / abm