|
TAEAN (South Korea) - SOUTH Korean officials said Sunday that workers had finally stopped a holed tanker leaking tons of crude oil into the sea in the country's worst ever oil spill.
The 147,000-tonne Hebei Spirit tanker has leaked more than 10,000 tons of crude off the southwest coast since it was hit by a barge on Friday.
Three of five oil containers on the Hong Kong-registered tanker were holed in the collision, coast guard officials said.
Two had been emptied by Saturday, and the third was pumped dry overnight.
'The crew on the tanker was able to pump crude oil in the third damaged container into an undamaged one overnight,' said a coast guard official in Taean, 120km south-west of Seoul.
'The tanker has stopped leaking since early Sunday.' A huge clean-up operation was underway in the affected coastal area Sunday, where officials have declared a state of disaster.
The tanker had been berthed 8km off the beach of Mallipo, near Taean, when it was pierced in three places by the barge.
The barge slammed into the port side when a wire linking it to a tug broke in rough seas.
Massive clean-up
Over 100 ships and thousands of troops were deployed to clean the spill on Sunday.
The slick has washed up in an area spanning 17km of the west coast, about 100km southwest of Seoul, that is home to popular tourist beaches, a national park and oyster beds. The spill is threatening to become a major environmental disaster.
The slick extends about 20 km from the Hong Kong-registered tanker that began leaking an estimated 10,500 tonnes of crude oil on Friday, after a barge carrying a crane punched holes in its hull while it was anchored, the coast guard said.
'We have approximately 5,600 people who have been working from 5am Sunday...doing all we can to prevent the situation from growing worse,' said Mr Ryu Hung of the Taean coast guard.
'Considering the tide, direction and velocity of the wind, the oil slick is not expected to expand further for now.'
Volunteers and government personnel have been scooping up oil with buckets and absorbing cloth, treating birds covered in oil and scrubbing blackened rocks.
Ships deploying containment fences and oil skimmers have been trying to lessen the spill's impact. The largest slick was spreading in Mallipo Bay, a maritime ministry official said. -- AFP, AP, REUTERS
 |
Is this article useful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 
