BEIJING - A shipwreck that occurred Tuesday near the coast of southern Guangdong Province has resulted in "a certain amount of oil spill," the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said on Thursday, citing monitoring results.

The SOA's South China Sea Branch and Guangdong Provincial Administration of Ocean and Fisheries started immediate monitoring of potential seawater pollution after receiving a report that Kenos Athena, a vessel from the Republic of Korea loaded with 7,000 tons of sulfuric acid and 140 tons of residual fuel oil, was wrecked in water adjacent to Zhelang Island.

According to a statement released Thursday by the SOA, "a patch of rufous oil slick" covering about five to six square km was spotted on the sea surface southwest of the wreckage site, and the slick contained a large amount of petroleum-related substance, indicating leakage from the vessel.

Meanwhile, further monitoring was under way to confirm whether the sulfuric acid had also leaked, said the statement.