(For related story see KOREA/TANKER or [ID:nSEO78366])

Dec 10 (Reuters) - More than 100 ships and thousands of troops were cleaning blackened South Korean beaches on Monday, after slicks from the country's worst oil spill coated birds in tar and cast a foul smell over a nature reserve.

The spill on Friday, caused when a barge struck a Hong Kong-registered crude carrier, has covered west coast shores in oil up to 10 centimetres deep in places.

Here is a chronology showing some of the world's worst oil spills at sea since the largest recorded tanker spill in 1979.

* July 19, 1979, CARIBBEAN: Greek oil tanker the Atlantic Empress collides with another vessel spilling 287,000 tonnes of oil into the sea off Tobago, in what is the world's biggest oil spill due to an accident at sea. * March 24, 1989, U.S: The Exxon Valdez hit rocks in Prince William Sound spilling some 34,000 tonnes (240,000 barrels) of crude oil onto Alaskan shores. The $2.5 billion clean-up effort, and overall cost of $9.5 billion including fines and claims, is the costliest on record.

* Dec 19, 1989, MOROCCO: After explosions and a fire, Iranian tanker Kharg-5 was abandoned spilling 70,000 tonnes of crude oil, endangering the coast and oyster beds at Oualidia.

* Dec 3, 1992, SPAIN: Greek tanker Aegean Sea runs aground and breaks in two near La Coruna spilling most of its 80,000 tonne cargo of oil.

* Jan 5, 1993, UK: The tanker Braer hits rocks near the coast of the Shetland Islands shedding its cargo of 85,000 tonnes of crude in the worst oil wreck in British waters for 26 years.

* March 31, 1994, UAE: 15,900 tonnes of crude oil leaks into the Arabian Sea after the Panamanian-flagged Seki collided with the UAE tanker Baynunah 10 miles off the UAE port of Fujairah.

* Feb 15, 1996, UK: Liberian-registered Sea Empress hit rocks near Milford Haven, Wales, spilling 40,000 tonnes of oil.

* Jan 2, 1997: JAPAN: Russian tanker, the Nakhodka, containing some 19,000 tonnes of oil is torn in two in the Sea of Japan causing one of the worst oil spills in Japan's history.

* Dec 13, 1999, FRANCE: The stern of the Maltese tanker Erika sinks off the northwest of France after splitting in two. It was carrying 25,000 tonnes of viscous fuel oil.

* Nov 19, 2002, SPAIN: The Bahamas-flagged tanker "Prestige", carrying 77,000 tonnes of fuel oil, sinks off the northwest coast of Spain six days after running into trouble in heavy seas.

* July 27, 2003, PAKISTAN: Oil tanker Tasman Spirit runs aground close to Karachi and splits in two, spilling 28,500 tonnes into the sea. Pakistan demands $1 billion compensation for environmental damage for the disaster, its worst oil spill.

* Dec 7, 2007, SOUTH KOREA: Hong Kong-registered tanker Hebei Spirit leaks 10,500 tonnes of crude oil into the sea after colliding with a barge in South Korea's worst oil spill.

Sources: Reuters

(Writing by Gill Murdoch, Singapore Editorial Reference Unit)

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