Pacific Spirit Marine Institute

State of Disaster Declared After Oil Spill in Yellow Sea

Sunday, December 9, 2007

The Korean government declared a state of disaster on Saturday, Dec.8, due to the oil spill off Mallipo Beach. Taean County and 5 surrounding counites were named. South Cheongcheong Province plans to ask that Taean County be further named a "special disaster area" apparently enabling them to receive future tax breaks and more government assistance to restore the local economy. Commerce will likely be affected adversly for years to come.

Many reports say the oil has stopped spilling from the Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit but, Korea Net is reporting officials as saying that as of 5 p.m. December 8, 17 kilometers of coast line of South Chungcheong province has been covered by the oil slick. The oil pushed by tides and wind and the oil still leaking from the tanker.

President Roh Moo-hyun has instructed government officials to take measures to minimize the damage from the oil

spill Korean maritime police have sent 103 ships and 5 helicopters to the scene of the oil slick. They have built

4.2 km of oil trapping fence. Efforts to trap the oil before it reaches the shore line haven't stopped the oil

from coating the once beautiful white-sand beaches of Mallipo Bay, which is no wonder considering the estimate of

2.7 million gallons of crude oil floating on the water.

There are approximately 181 aqua-culture farms in the affected area which cover about 5,650 hectares. British

Lloyd P&I, the company insuring the Samsung NO.1. may be shelling out 300 billion won ($330 million) along with the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund. Government officials are hoping affected fish and seafood farmers will be compensated quickly but have not porvided any details yet.

Nearly 8,000 workers are working at a fever pitch to clear the beaches of the gloopy oil as it comes ashore. Samsung Heavy industires has sent hundreds of its employees to the affected area to help in the clean up efforts.
Apparently Samsung Group is under investigation regarding a 'slush fund scandal'. Bad luck usually comes in threes so Samsung's bad luck may be nearing an end.

Investigators looking into what may have happened causing the largest oil spill in South Korea's history suspect the towing vessel failed to get warnings from the control tower giving them instructions on how to avoid the supertanker Hebei Spirit. There may have been a communications breakdown. Whether or not this was an equipment or a human breakdown has not been made clear. Still others investigating the accident believe the tow lines from the barge to the tow may have been broken during strong winds and high waves.

Photo Thanks cnn.com