By an OGJ Online Correspondent
RIO DE JANERIO, Oct. 19 -- Naphtha leaking from a damaged Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) tanker in Paranagua Bay could still cause an explosion, the company said.
The 18,000 dwt Norman grounded Thursday after hitting a rock. The naphtha leaked from a tank near the machinery room. The leak since has been plugged. One diver died Thursday while working in the salvage operation.
Celso Luiz Silva Pereira de Souza, general manager of Fronape, the Petrobras transport subsidiary, told OGJ Online, "Operations are being led by the Dutch salvage company Smit and we estimate that 1.8 million l. of naphtha leaked, although a precise estimate is impossible because naphtha evaporates quickly."
The Norman has capacity for 22 million l. of products in five compartments.
Petrobras Pres. Henri Philippe Reichstul said the company would take full responsibility (financial and cleaning up the bay) and abide by the national environmental authority's (Ibama) recommendations. Reichstul said that it is too soon to evaluate the damage caused by the spill, the third severe environmental accident involving Petrobras in less than a year.
Ibama said if the contamination is severe, about 7,000 people living near the bay in the southern state of Parana would have to be evacuated. Access to the Paranagua Port was closed, as was the surrounding air space, to reduce the possibility of an explosion.