BAD weather was hampering efforts by the United Arab Emirates yesterday to contain an oil spill off the Abu Dhabi coastline.

The spill occurred after a Honduran-registered ship sank seven miles off the eastern coast of the UAE capital, reportedly after hitting a sand bank in bad weather.

The UAE Federal Environmental Agency (FEA) reports that about 300 tons of the cargo, diesel oil, had leaked out of the stricken vessel resulting in a slick 600 m long and 100 m wide. Dr Slem Al Dhaheri, managing director of the agency, was quoted by the Gulf Today daily as saying that the ship had sunk completely on Tuesday morning.

The UAE Coastguard said its divers had successfully plugged 10 holes leaking oil from the tanker.

The medium-sized oil tanker Al Jazia 1, built in 1960, was carrying 980 tonnes of oil when she capsized on Monday morning 12.6 km north-east of Abu Dhabi. The Somalia-bound tanker, owned by Abu Dhabi-based Al Jazia company, was loaded with oil at the free port in the UAE capital. Reports here said the nine crew members were being questioned about the cause.