Oil slick reaches tourist resort after tanker spill

A tanker leased by the state oil giant of Brazil, Petrobras - criticised for a string of spills this year - oozed 22,700 gallons of crude near a popular beach resort area on Saturday.

A tanker leased by the state oil giant of Brazil, Petrobras - criticised for a string of spills this year - oozed 22,700 gallons of crude near a popular beach resort area on Saturday.

The tanker crashed against a concrete pier and split open part of its hull while it was attempting to dock at a key terminal in Sao Sebastiao bay in the northern state of Sao Paulo. The oil yesterday washed up on six local beaches.

"Contrary to the preliminary assessment which indicated a tendency for dispersal at high sea, the slick has already reached six beaches to the north of Sao Sebastiao," said the Sao Paulo state environment secretariat (Cetesb).

It said the oil was last night approaching Ilhabela, an island just off the mainland and a tourist attraction.

This is where Petrobras has deployed the majority of its emergency workers in acontainment and clean-up operation.

"There's a team working on it; Petrobras has around 300 people there trying to contain it and clean it up," a spokeswoman from Cetesb said.