S'pore, Vietnam to resolve dispute

S'pore, Vietnam to resolve dispute

SINGAPORE (AFP): Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) Ltd., a listed government-owned shipping company, said yesterday it was cooperating with Vietnamese authorities to resolve a dispute over an oil-spill.

NOL said in a statement issued here that it was giving Vietnamese authorities "fullest co-operation" to try to resolve the issue "as quickly as possible."

A NOL vessel, Neptune Aries, rammed a jetty at Cat Lai port near Ho Chi Minh City last month spilling about 1,000 tons of light gas oil into the mouth of the Saigon River.

Ho Chi Minh City authorities have asked its municipal committee to demand a deposit of about US$21.3 million as bail from NOL while awaiting a court verdict, reports from Hanoi said.