Chinese tanker spills oil along the South Korean coast

Those waters, southwest of Seoul,  are some of South Korea’s most productive ones for producing shellfish, so this could seriously harm the livelihoods of a lot of people.

A crane-carrying vessel collided with an oil tanker off of South Korea’s west coast on Friday, spilling more than 66,000 barrels of crude oil in what was believed to be South Korea’s largest offshore oil leak, officials said.

Officials at the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry, citing Coast Guard reports, initially said about 110,000 barrels had leaked from the Hong Kong-registered tanker. But the Coast Guard later said additional information indicated the amount was significantly lower — about 66,043 barrels.

The accident occurred around 7:10 a.m. when the crane-carrying vessel slammed into the 146,000-ton tanker Hebei Spirit in waters off Mallipo beach, some 93 miles southwest of Seoul.  [AP, Jae Soon Chang]

If the crane-carrying vessel was Korean, there may not be a foreigner in easy blaming  distance, but hey, since when has that ever stopped a Korean politician right before an election?  National pride  is at stake!   Two words:  candlelight vigil.