Tanker and container ship collide off Netherlands coast Published duration 12 October 2010

image caption The tanker was carrying the fuel kerosene

A Greek tanker transporting kerosene and a Cypriot container ship have collided off the Dutch coast.

The Greek ship started leaking kerosene into the North Sea, but the spillage was quickly staunched.

The collision happened some 30km (19 miles) from the port of Scheveningen. It is not clear what caused it.

No-one was injured in the incident, but an oil dispersion ship and rescue vessels are on their way to the site as a precaution.

The tanker, the Mindoro, was reported to have a crew of 25 people. Twelve people were on board the Cypriot ship, the Jork Ranger.

Peter Verbrug, a spokesman for the Dutch coastguard, told AFP that the leak was rapidly stopped and the remaining kerosene in the damaged tank was being pumped into another tank.

"The kerosene which escaped evaporated very quickly, it was hardly in contact with the water," he said.

The kerosene posed no public health risk, was evaporating rapidly and was not expected to reach the shoreline, according to another coastguard spokesperson quoted by Reuters.