About five tones of fuel oil have been spilled into the Brisbane River during a ship refueling operation at Hamilton Wharves in Brisbane's north in Australia's Queensland, Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) said on Monday.

The incident occurred on Monday morning shortly after 6:45 a.m. (local time) as the cargo ship GL Lan Xiu was being refueled by a refueling vessel, the Valiant III at Hamilton No. 4 Wharf.

The division of the Department of Transport and Main Roads said MSQ was preparing a helicopter to overfly the scene and assess the extent of the spill.

MSQ Acting General Manager Jim Huggett said the flight was in addition to counter pollution measures already taken to support the Port of Brisbane's response to the oil spill.

"We have deployed oil skimmers and placed booms around the ship in addition to measures also being taken by the Port of Brisbane," Huggett said.

"Maritime Safety Queensland will investigate the circumstances of the spill but our priority at this stage is to contain the oil and clean it up soon as possible."

Around 2,000 heads of cattle due to be loaded on board the GL Lan Xiu which was bound for Japan remained on shore, MSQ said.

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