There was a minor collision between two ships at Kamarajar port in Ennore.
No casualty or damage to the ships was reported, according to an official of Kamarajar Port Ltd, a major port north of Chennai.
The incident happened early morning at the port's entrance channel involving a fully loaded oil tanker coming in to the port and an empty vessel going out, the official said.
Investigation is going on, he said.
A post by Kamarajar Port Ltd in its Facebook page said that at 4 am two ships - Dawn Kanchipuram (Indian flag vessel) and BW Maple (Isle Of Man flag) - carrying POL and LPG respectively collided outside the harbour. While Kanchipuram was coming in to the port, Maple was going out. There was no damage to environment like oil pollution and no casualty or injury to persons. Both vessels are safely afloat and anchored. Extents of damage to the vessels are under assessment.
All top officials of port closely monitoring and the situation is under control. An enquiry has been ordered to find the cause of accident. All other ship movements are normal.