Bhubaneswar, Oct 26 A US firm engaged to pump out fuel oil from a Mongolian ship that sank last month off Paradip harbour in Orissa retrieved at least 176 tonnes of oil by Monday, an official said.

A team of the Florida based salvage firm, Resolve Marine Group, arrived at the port Oct 18 and carried out a preliminary survey and work planning from the next day itself.

The firm's salvage workers commenced retrieval of furnace oil from one of the storage tanks from Oct 23.

"So far they have retrieved 176 tonnes of furnace oil from the storage tank," a senior port official told IANS.

"It is expected the retrieval of all fuel will be completed within three to four weeks," he said.

The vessel, sailing under a Mongolian flag, was carrying about 25,000 tonnes of iron ore fines and 975 tonnes of furnace oil. It capsized in Bay of Bengal Sep 9, five km off the Paradip coast within the Indian territorial waters, and some 100 km from here.

A total of 27 crew members were on board. All but one Ukrainian engineer were rescued. His body was found 10 days later.

The accident spot is close to the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary, one of the world's few remaining nesting sites for the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles. (IANS)