South Korean oil leak being cleaned up

Crews have been working to clean up oil in water off the southern coast of South Korea following a pipeline break over the weekend. Ships and aircraft have helped with cleanup efforts following the spilling of 164,000 litres of oil into the sea after a GS Caltex Corp pipeline cracked. It is expected that the cleanup of the shores following the spill will take around two weeks.

The crack in the pipeline happened on Friday (January 31st) at a quay off the coast of Yeosu. It occurred as a 318,445 deadweight tonne crude carrier was getting ready to berth at the quay and unload its crude. Luckily no oil leaked from the carrier, although it is thought that it approached the quay at a speed that was higher than is advised. 

It is not clear whether the high speed of the carrier is what caused the crack in the pipe and investigations are ongoing. Surveyors from ABS, the ship safety classification society, are involved in the investigation, along with the North of England P&I Association, the ship's insurer, according to Ng Kwang Chiau, senior vice president at Ocean Tankers' fleet management division.  

The ship's black box will be used as part of the investigation, in order to ascertain whether its speed was to blame for the spill. No injuries or spill was recorded on the ship, however; the front of it did sustain some minor damage. It will be required to undergo safety testing before it can offload any of its crude load.

Although cleanup of the water will be relatively quick, the oil spill has affected around 6.2 miles of coastline. Crews are working to deal with the affected areas as quickly as possible. On Sunday (February 2nd), the prime minister for South Korea released a statement to say that an oil boom was being used to control the spillage, involving 201 vessels and five planes. The diameter of the boom was increased from five kilometres to 9.5 kilometres in an attempt to lessen the damage to the coastline further.