Crews battle Pakistan oil spill

Salvage workers have managed to siphon away one-sixth of the oil stored aboard a stricken tanker off the coast of the Pakistani city of Karachi.

A salvage operation is under way to recover oil from the tanker

They are now battling to stop its remaining load of around 35,000 tonnes of oil from spilling into the sea.

So far, 6,000 tonnes of oil has been pumped from the tanker into another boat, according to Brigadier Iftikhar Arshad, who manages the port at Karachi.

"The leaking of oil from the ship has stopped, which is a very good sign," Arshad told the Associated Press, adding that weather conditions were helping the salvage operation.

Port authorities say it will take at least another 10 days to empty the damaged tanker, which caused huge oil slicks after running aground off Karachi amid fierce rain on 27 July.

MAJOR TANKER SPILLS 1978 Amoco Cadiz Brittany - 220,000 tonnes 1979 Atlantic Empress Tobago - 160,000 tonnes 1967 Torrey Canyon UK - 119,000 tonnes 1983 Braer Shetland Isles - 85,000 tonnes 1996 Sea Empress Wales - 72,000 tonnes 2002 Prestige North-west Spain - 42,000 tonnes 1989 Exxon Valdez Alaska - 38,800 tonnes In pictures: Pakistan oil spill

According to local residents, Karachi's beaches are covered in a thick film of oil and littered with dead marine animals.

Environmental experts estimate that the Greek-owned tanker, MT Tasman Spirit, has already emptied about 10,000 tonnes of oil into the sea.

"We have to prepare ourselves to receive a very big environmental challenge," said Adnan Han, a government wildlife researcher, adding he was particularly worried about the threat to coastal mangrove forests and the fragile eco-system they support.

Pakistani port authorities have brushed aside criticism that they did not act in time to combat the threat from the grounded tanker.

"Most of this criticism is totally unfounded," said Vice-Admiral Akmed Hayat of the Karachi Port Trust. "There has been no inadvertent delay at all."