Tons of oil spill into Yellow Sea (CNN) {off Korea}

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Thousands of tons of oil spilled into the Yellow Sea off the western coast of South Korea Friday after an oil tanker collided with a barge carrying a crane, the Maritime Ministry of Korea reported.

About 10,000 tons of oil gushed out of the Hebei Spirit after the crane punctured holes in the side of the tanker around 7:15 a.m. local time (5:15 p.m. Thursday).

The flow had stopped by Friday evening as efforts continued to contain the spill.

"Because of the current wind and wave movements the maritime ministry is not expecting to see much environmental damage on the west coast of Korea," the ministry said.
advertisement

The spill is the largest in South Korean history, a police spokesman said, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
***
more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/07/korea.oil/index.html