Thailand tackles 2nd offshore oil spill in 3 weeks

Thai authorities scrambled Friday to contain the country's second oil spill in less than three weeks in the Gulf of Thailand. An estimated 5 tons was believed to have leaked 20 kilometers off the eastern province of Rayong, in the same location where at least 22 tons spilled into the sea on January 25.

The clean-up from the earlier spill from a mooring point was declared completed last week, but only after some oil made it on to one of the shoreline beaches. The new leak was reported Thursday, and believed to have come from an underwater pipeline to the mooring point that was undergoing repairs, said its operator, Star Petroleum Refining Co. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha expressed his concern and ordered Rayong officials, the navy and the Transport Ministry's Marine Department to work urgently to contain the problem, said a government spokesperson.