The mayor of Sines Nuno Mascarenhas told Lusa about the incident, correcting his first report of three tonnes.

“According to the information from Civil Protection, the approximate value of the spill should be around 250kg”, he said, quoting the latest data available by the Administration of Sines and Algarve Ports (APS).

Friday morning Mascarenhas said that it was a spill of “about three tonnes” of hydrocarbons, but later he corrected that information.

According to a joint statement from APS and civil protection of Sines, a “small spill” of fuel occurred in the terminal during bunkering, which is loading the ships with fuel, from the ‘Bahia Tres’ ship to ‘MSC Sandra’.

The note said that after the spill, “barriers were placed for containment and collection of spilt fuel” to “minimise the impact of the incident on port activity”.

Mascarenhas confirmed to Lusa that the spill was contained “because the contingency means were immediately triggered.”

Currently, “cleaning works in the pier are underway”, the APS and municipality said.