The slick was about 10 miles long as of 10 a.m. in Seoul today, widening from 4.6 miles late yesterday, said Jeong Se Hee, a maritime police official at Korea's Coast Guard. The collision caused a spill of 10,500 metric tons (78,750 barrels) of crude oil before the Hebei Spirit stopped leaking, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said yesterday.
``The oil slick is spreading out fast near the coast,'' Jeong said today by telephone from Taean, a seaside resort 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Seoul. ``We're setting up oil fences around sea farms to minimize damage to fishermen.''
The band of oil has reached three beaches off the west coast and hit one sea farm of oysters and abalone, said Song Myung Dal, a spokesman with the Maritime Ministry in Seoul.
A total of 67 patrol boats, oil-spill control vessels and six helicopters resumed operations at 6 a.m. to mop up the oil, Jeong said. He couldn't pin down how long it may take to contain the spread and what will be the extent of damage.
The Coast Guard has asked the country to declare the affected sea area a ``special disaster zone,'' enabling the government to offer help to those suffering from the spill, Jeong said.
The government will form a committee of oil-spill experts and seek help from residents of nearby regions to contain the slick, according to the statement yesterday. The vessel held 263,000 tons of crude oil and there were no casualties in the collision.
Worst Spill
The spill is the worst in South Korea's history and the biggest anywhere since the Tasman Spirit leaked about 27,000 tons of oil at the port of Karachi in Pakistan in July 2003, Tim Wadsworth, technical support manager for the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd. in London, said by telephone.
The environment ministry is studying what damage the leak may cause, Cho Gyu Won, an assistant director at the ministry's natural resources division, said yesterday from Gwacheon, near Seoul.
The tanker was carrying crude oil for Hyundai Oilbank's refinery at Daesan, Kim Sung Yong, a spokesman for the company, said by telephone. South Korea's fourth-biggest oil refiner may reduce processing at its 390,000 barrels-a-day Daesan plant following the spill, according to company officials who asked not to be identified.
Via: Bloomberg|By Kim Kyoungwha
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