Barge ‘drifted close to three other vessels’

THE Korean crane barge which collided with the very large crude carrier Hebei Spirit on December 7 to cause South Korea’s worst oil spill drifted to within about 4 km of three other vessels before hitting the tanker, a court was told today.

Daejeon district court was shown data which suggested the crane barge, Samsung No 1, was heading towards three bulk carriers anchored in the same area as the tanker in the two and a half hours before the collision.