An unidentified small boat hit a cargo ship which moored in the Huangpu River near the Wujing Power Plant early Tuesday morning, damaging the ship's cabin and causing 85 tons of fuel to spill into the river.

The small boat, deemed to be at fault, disappeared under cover of darkness shortly after the accident.

The Shanghai Maritime Affairs Administration was informed about4 a.m. Tuesday of the accident, which left an oil slick 200 meters long by 20 meters wide.

A total of 17 vessels have been dispatched to the site of the oil spill. About 20 tons of oil-bearing water has been collected and the oil spill has been kept to a restricted area.

But some of the spilled oil has been carried to the riverside, and several plots of wetland at the upper reaches of the river have already been polluted.

"It will take about two weeks to fully clear away the oil," said an expert from the administration.

The Huangpu River flows eastward through the heart of Shanghai, China's most important industrial and commercial center, and empties into the East China Sea.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2003)