Oil from damaged tanker blackens shore in S Korea

Mallipo Beach (South Korea) (AP): South Korea's Coast Guard mobilised thousands of people on Sunday to clean up a disastrous oil spill polluting a swathe of the country's scenic and environmentally rich western coast.

About 100 ships, including Coast Guard, navy and private fishing boats, were to help contain and clean up the spill, South Korea's worst ever, said Coast Guard official Kim Young-hwan.
Kim said about 6,000 people, including government personnel, local residents and volunteers were expected to participate, nearly triple the number on Saturday.

"This will be difficult work," Kim said. "We are just in the initial stage."
The oil started hitting beaches, including Mallipo, after a Hong Kong-registered supertanker was slammed by a South Korean-owned barge that came unmoored from its tugboat in rough seas.
A total of 66,000 barrels of crude gushed into the ocean, more than twice as much as in South Korea's worst previous spill in 1995.

Thick, smelly waves of crude washed ashore, turning seagulls black and threatening fish farms along a 17-kilometre stretch of coast.

Mallipo is one of South Korea's best-known beaches, an important stopover for migrating birds, including snipe, mallards and great crested grebes, and has an abundant fishing industry.

Courtesy:thehindu.com
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