China will claim compensation from two foreign-registered container ships that leaked about 1,200 tons of oil, causing serious pollution at the mouth of the Pearl River, Xinhua reported.

The provincial marine bureau will assess the oil spill and claim compensation in the name of the State. The detailed amount of the compensation claim will only be known in a fortnight.

In the country's worst oil spill, about 1,200 tons of fuel oil leaked from German-registered ship MSC Ilona after it collided with a Panamanian-registered container ship, Hyundai Advance, Tuesday night last week. The collision occurred eight sea miles northeast of Dangan Island at the mouth of the Pearl River.

The oil spill proved the biggest ever in Chinese waters. The slick, about 17 kilometers long and 200 meters wide, will adversely affect the area's marine ecology.

The Panamanian-registered ship tried to leave the scene of the collision without permission Friday morning, but was intercepted by the Chinese authorities.

The mouth of the Pearl River has been the site of frequent oil vessel collisions.

Source: Xinhua