Another Oil Spill Hurts South Korea (Our World)

TAEAN, South Korea, Dec 9 (Reuters) - South Korea deployed over 100 ships and thousands of troops on Sunday to clean up the worst oil spill in its history, which has blackened beaches, coated birds in tar and cast a foul smell over a nature reserve.

The slick has washed up in an area spanning 17 kms (11 miles) of the west coast, about 100 km 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.
Reuters article.

Tags: Oil Spill, Tanker accident