The clean-up of 164,000 litres of oil which leaked from a pipeline into the sea over the weekend in South Korea is expected to be completed today.

Hundreds of private, coastguard and naval vessels have been taking part in the clean-up of the spill which took place on Friday at a quay off Yeosu, more than 300 kilometres south of Seoul.

A large crude oil carrier, Wu Yi San, was reportedly preparing to berth and offload crude when it hit a pier and pierced a pipeline. There was no leak of crude from the tanker itself.

A senior official at the Yeosu Coast Guard of Korea is reported as saying: “A clean up would be completed within today while a clean-up of the seashore would take one or two weeks.”

Reports claim he said the tanker was suspected of approaching the quay at a higher than recommended speed but the exact cause of the accident is under investigation.