Dalian Port Resumes Operating Two Oil Berths After Explosion Caused Spill

Dalian Port (PDA) Co., operator of China’s largest crude-oil terminal, said two oil berths resumed operations after a pipeline explosion caused a spill.

A third berth, capable of receiving 300,000-deadweight-ton crude oil tankers, will restart “in the near future,” the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The July 16 explosion led to a spill that covered more than 183 square kilometers (70 square miles) off China’s northeastern coast, forcing the closure of berths and beaches. The incident occurred after workers injected oxidizing desulfurizer into the pipeline after a tanker had finished unloading its oil, Dalian Port said today, citing government findings.

The probe, carried out by the State Administration of Work Safety and the Ministry of Public Security, found that the desulfurizer, produced by Tianjin-based Huishengda Petroleum Technology Co., was injected into the pipeline by Shanghai-based Q.PRO Inspection and Technical Service Co., the official Xinhua News Agency reported July 23.

Dalian Port said it restarted the 150,000-deadweight-ton No. 1 berth that handles crude-oil shipments and the 80,000- deadweight-ton No. 2 berth handling both crude-oil and refined- oil-product cargoes.

--Wang Ying. Editors: Tan Hwee Ann

To contact the reporter on this story: Ying Wang in Beijing at ywang30@bloomberg.net

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