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An oil tanker carrying around 39,000 litres of fuel oil has run aground off the southern coast of Taiwan, causing fears of another oil spill similar to one experienced in 2001.

The Colombo Queen went aground approximately 50 metres off Pingtung's Jialeshuei coastal park as a result of strong winds and heavy seas caused by the approaching tropical storm Linfa, Taiwan News reports.

The tanker, said to be have nine crew members on board, send out distress signals at around 8 p.m on Saturday, according to the National Rescue Command Center.

A Coast Guard Administration (CGA) patrol boat was then sent to the scene of the incident, where the crew members were spotted on a life raft about three nautical miles from the grounded tanker.

Aung Win, captain of the Colombo Queen, said he had tried to steer the tanker away from the coastline but the winds were so strong that the vessel was blown towards land and the engine finally gave out.

County officials were meeting yesterday over fears that the grounded vessel could cause another environmental disaster following a fuel oil spill in January 2001, when the Greek-registered bulk carrier Amorgos ran aground off the coast of Pingtung's Kenting National Park, spilling around 1,150 tonnes of fuel oil into the open water.

As a result of the spill, three kilometres of coastline were left seriously polluted and the 60-hectare Lungkeng Ecological Preserve took several years to recover from the incident.