China will undertake a new initiative regarding oil spills at sea, as the country’s Ministry of Transport will create a laboratory for treating oil spills at sea, which will be the first of its kind in China.
Although China spends about 200 million yuan a year, to improve emergency treatment of oil spills, a main setback is the lack of technological expertise because until now, such a laboratory did not exist, Reuters reported.
The laboratory will be located in the port city of Tianjin, off the Bohai Bay, and will be granted an initial investment $63 million. The investment regards research projects for ocean protection and improvements in sea-borne transportation.
Currently only two countries have laboratories specializing in treating oil spills in sea: the US and France.
This development comes at a time when the Iranian oil tanker, Sanchi, collided with a Chinese freight ship and went ablaze in the East China Sea, leaving a major oil spill, which was described as having the size of Paris.
