A COASTAL fuel tanker, the Royal Sphere, had to be towed away from the shore at Mossel Bay on Monday after it began taking water, port officials said. The Unicorn-owned tanker called for help around 1pm on Monday after one of its cooling valves began to leak, flooding the engine room, Mossel Bay port captain Faisal Sultan said. The vessel was moored at an offshore buoy at the time and was due to discharge a cargo of 5000 tons of diesel and load 24000 tons of 97 octane petrol and diesel through a pipeline to the shore. There was a risk of massive pollution if the tanker sunk and so the tanker had to be towed away from the shore. A Portnet pilot boat was the first to respond to the Royal Sphere’s call for help, and took the vessel off the mooring buoy before handing it over to marine salvagers Pentow Marine.