An oil tanker collided with a fishing boat off South Korea's southern coast, causing the tanker to leak about 1,380 barrels of oil into the ocean, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.
Coast Guard spokesman Kang Byung-mun said the collision Tuesday night should not cause any major environmental damage because the amount leaked was relatively small and of a type of light oil that can easily evaporate.
Most of the oil floating on the water had been retrieved by late afternoon by about 50 ships mobilized for cleanup work, Kang said. Still, some vessels would continue to scoop up the remaining oil Thursday morning, he said.
Earlier Kang had said no more than 1,260 barrels was expected to have leaked.
The cause of the collision, near an island about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the southern coastal city of Yeosu, was under investigation. There were no casualties, he said.
Kang said there was little chance for the leaked oil to drift ashore considering prevailing winds and ocean currents.
South Korea suffered its worst oil spill in December when a crane being carried on a barge slammed into a Hong Kong-registered super tanker, leading to the leak of about 78,920 barrels of oil into waters just off the western coast.
That spill jeopardized the ecosystem and the livelihood of an area that includes popular beaches and fishing grounds and thousands of workers are still engaging in cleanup work.
Tuesday night's collision left two holes in one of 15 containers aboard the tanker, which was carrying 44,030 barrels of light oil, Kang said.
The punctured container had about 2,516 barrels of oil in it, but crew members transferred half of the oil to other containers shortly after the collision, Kang said.
The city of Yeosu, some 460 kilometers (286 miles) south of Seoul, last year won the right to host the 2012 Expo.
Tuesday's spill occurred several hundred kilometers (several hundred miles) away from the site of the December accident, Kang said.
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