SKorea battles worst ever oil spill: officials
SEOUL (AFP) — A tanker spilled more than 10,000 tons of crude oil into the Yellow Sea after it was holed by a barge Friday in what officials said was South Korea's worst ever oil spill.
Authorities battled to contain the oil inside a boom some eight kilometres (five miles) long to prevent it damaging the coastline, as a fleet of 28 ships scattered dispersant chemicals or tried to pump up the spillage.
"We are worried about an ecological disaster," said Kim Jong-Sik, an official with the ministry of maritime affairs and fisheries, adding: "This is the country's worst oil spill.
"We have set up a boom, trying to stop oil from spreading along the coast, but oil sometimes overflows, it depends on the currents."
The Hong Kong-registered tanker Hebei Spirit, carrying about 15,000 tons of oil, was berthed five miles off Mallipo, 90 kilometres (54 miles) southwest of Seoul, when it was pierced in three places.
Lee Woo-Sung, an official at a crisis centre set up by the ministry, said the tanker was no longer leaking after spilling an estimated 10,500 tons, but clean-up crews would continue working overnight.
The oil had been spewing from three holes on the tanker's port side. "A slick of spilt oil stretches five kilometres, threatening marine farms in the region," Kim said.
"If we fail to contain the spread, it is feared (it will) inflict serious damage to the coast."
The barge, which had a crane on board, was being towed by another vessel at the time of the accident.
"Our initial investigation showed loose ropes linked to the towing vessel might have caused the accident," Kim told AFP.
Yonhap news agency said the tow rope broke in strong winds and high waves.
The spill triggered an emergency operation by about 40 coastguard and other ships as well as four helicopters, said maritime ministry officials. They said dozens of vessels in other regions had been asked to join in.
The tanker was anchored near waters designated as a national park before it was to sail into Daesan port to discharge its cargo.
The stretch of west coast is one of Asia's largest wetland areas, and Bok Jin-Ho, of the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement, said it has sent a team to check damage.
The federation's offices have taken numerous calls from people worried about a potential environmental disaster.
"The area is ecologically important as migrant birds gather there during winter," Bok told AFP.
"If oil reaches the shore it will cause enormous long-term damage to the environment along the coast, which is also dotted with many seaweed and oyster farms. Wetlands are very vulnerable to pollution."
In the previous worst incident in South Korea, a tanker hit a rock in 1995 and spilt 5,000 tones of oil onto the south coast, causing damage estimated at 44.3-billion won (48-million dollars).
In addition, the government spent more than 22-billion won on a five-month operation to clean up the shoreline.
One of the worst oil spillages in the world from a tanker was in 1978, when the Amoco Cadiz spewed 220,000 tons off the coast of northwest France.
In March 1967, the Torrey Canyon tanker spilled 119,000 tons of crude off Britain's Scilly Isles,
In March 1989 the grounded tanker Exxon Valdez leaked 38,800 tones of crude into Prince William Sound in Alaska, the worst spill in US history.
