CHARLOTTE AMALIE, US Virgin Islands (AP) — The insurer of an oil tanker that struck a reef off St. Croix last month is paying to restore damaged coral, a US environmental official said on Monday.

The ship, whose owner has not been identified, struck the reef two miles south of the island on January 17 but dislodged itself without releasing oil or chemicals, said Tom Moore, a restoration specialist with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"The damage to the reef was moderate," he said.

The insurer of the Panama-flagged vessel, Japan Ship Owners' Mutual Protection & Indemnity Association, will pay for the broken pieces of coral to be glued back into place, Moore said. The project cost was not available.

The collision occurred as the ship was heading to the Hovensa LLC oil refinery on St. Croix.

Moore said it was one of seven such incidents over the past month in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, a number he called unusually high.