South Korean authorities detain Russian-flagged ship for causing oil spill
Authorities in South Korea have detained a foreign-flagged cargo vessel in connection with an oil spill incident that occurred off the coast of Busan late last month.
The suspect vessel, identified only as a Russian-registered refrigerated cargo ship, has been confirmed by the Korea Coast Guard as the source of an oil spill that was detected off Busan on September 24.
The vessel had already fled the area at the time the spill was discovered. However, it was later stopped and boarded by Korea Coast Guard, which conducted an inspection that lasted four days.
The coast guard confirmed that the 2,600-ton vessel had dumped an estimated 39 litres of waste oil into the waters off Busan before eventually fleeing.
The inspection revealed that an intermediate valve had malfunctioned as it was being used to syphon waste oil out of the engine room. The waste oil was intended to be transferred to a dedicated tank but had leaked into the sea instead.
The coast guard added that it has also obtained a confession from one of the crew.
Local authorities are now working towards contacting the ship's owner to request compensation that would cover the costs of the spill clean-up effort.