SEOUL, Dec 7: A tanker spilled more than 10,000 tons of crude oil into the Yellow Sea after it was holed by a barge on Friday in what officials said was South Korea’s worst ever oil spill.

Authorities battled to contain the oil inside a boom some eight kilometres long to prevent it damaging the coastline, as a fleet of 28 ships scattered dispersant chemicals or tried to pump up the spillage.

“We are worried about an ecological disaster,” said Kim Jong-Sik, an official with the ministry of maritime affairs and fisheries, adding: “This is the country’s worst oil spill.”

“We have set up a boom, trying to stop oil from spreading along the coast, but oil sometimes overflows, it depends on the currents.”—AFP