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Oil spill threat to sensitive shoreline

SEOUL: South Korea’s Coast Guard dispatched dozens of ships on Friday to prevent crude oil that leaked from a supertanker from reaching an ecologically sensitive shoreline on the west coast.

About 10.5 million litres of oil gushed from the 1,46,000-tonne Hong Kong-registered tanker after a crane-carrying barge slammed into it, said the Coast Guard.

Strong winds and prevailing currents meant oil was expected to start washing up on shore as early as Saturday morning and flow into fishing grounds and fishing farms, it said. Authorities set up a special fence 7.5 km in length to try and contain the oil and planned to establish additional fences. The slick was 7.4 km long and 2 km wide. An official said the extent of environmental damage would depend on the success of the containment operation, though he added that cold winter temperatures could help slow the spread of the oil slick by freezing it.

The tanker, the Hebei Spirit, and the other vessel, owned by South Korea’s Samsung Corp., were in no danger of sinking, the Coast Guard said. There were no casualties in the accident, it said. — AP

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