Explosion forces Dalian closure

China’s Dalian port remains closed following an explosion, a fire and an oil spill on Friday. The accident took place at Dalian Petro China International Warehousing and Transportation when a 300,000dwt oil tanker was unloading at Xingang oil terminal.

It is understood that a series of explosions took place, beginning with a 0.9-metre diameter pipeline, which then caused adjacent smaller pipelines to explode.

Port of Dalian Authority (PDA) said damage assessment of port facilities was ongoing. 

In a PDA filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, it said the fire had been extinguished. The company said the explosion caused no direct damage to the main facilities but certain ancillary facilities, including pipelines and control systems, have suffered damage. 

Clean up teams are now battling to clean up a 183sq km oil slick

The incident could result in delays in the docking of oil tankers at terminals as well as other cargo vessels, which could affect the cargo handling cycle of Dalian Port.

Dalian was the world’s 21st busiest container port and number eight in China in 2009, handling over 4.57m teu, up 1.1% on the previous year.