'Oil spill hit Mumbai port to restart on Thursday'

India's busiest port will restart on Thursday after operations were suspended following a weekend collision of two cargo ships off Mumbai's coast, a senior port official said.

India's busiest port will restart on Thursday after operations were suspended following a weekend collision of two cargo ships off Mumbai's coast, a senior port official told Reuters.

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The collision triggered an oil slick and stalled the delivery of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil for one of the biggest refiners.

"It was decided in a meeting today that port operations will be suspended until the 12th (August)," said the official, who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to talk to the media.

"There will not be any vessel movement for another two days. Containers are being removed now," he added.

Scores of containers had been flung overboard after the collision, making navigation difficult.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust handled more than 60.7 million tonnes of container traffic in 2009/10, a 6 per cent rise compared with the previous year.

Authorities hope to clear the harbour of the containers within two to three days, the Ministry of Shipping said on Monday.