A 12-year saga over KRW 432.9bn ($370m) in compensation payments related to South Korea’s largest oil spill is coming to a close.

In December 2007, the 270,000-dwt tanker Hebei Spirit (built 1993) spilt 11,000 tonnes of its ­cargo while at anchor off the north-­western port of Daesan ­after it was hit by a local barge crane.

The International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds (IOPC Funds) meeting in London this week heard that final payments have been completed to the vessel’s protection and indemnity ­insurer, Skuld, and the South ­Korean government.