The South Korean captains of a barge have been arrested on charges of causing the accident that led to South Korea's worst-ever oil spill, a coast guard official said Tuesday.
The Dec. 7 a wire linking the barge and tugboat was cut in high winds, and barge slammed into a Hong Kong-registered supertanker.
The tanker leaked 78,920 barrels of oil into South Korea's western waters, jeopardizing the ecosystem and blackening beaches.
The spill was nearly a third of the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster that sent 260,000 barrels of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound.
643
South Korean: Captains of Barge Caused Oil Spill Arrested
The South Korean captains of a barge have been arrested on charges of causing the accident