On December 30, a maritime court in Tianjin in north China agreed to hear the case of 29 aquaculture farmers who are demanding compensation for the losses they incurred following the country's worst offshore oil spill.

The Penglai 19-3 Oilfield, where the leak was first reported in June 2011, is in the Bohai Sea. It is being operated by ConocoPhillips China, a subsidiary of the U.S. energy giant ConocoPhillips, under a development agreement with the China National Offshore Oil Corp., the oilfield's owner.

The court said that another 107 aquafarmers had also filed a lawsuit seeking compensation from ConocoPhillips China and it was conducting routine checks over the plaintiffs' identities.

The court did not give details of the amount of compensation claimed in both lawsuits.

In their previous lawsuit, the 107 aquafarmers said the oil spill killed or stunted the growth of most of their clams and sea cucumbers, and sought 490 million yuan ($77.78 million) in damages.