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NATION : Tanker’s Stern Now Submerged

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<i> From Times Wire Services </i>

The rear end of the crippled supertanker Mega Borg slipped beneath the water this afternoon, raising new fears the fire-ravaged vessel could sink, Coast Guard officials said.

“We have reports from the scene that the stern quarter from the Mega Borg is awash--that means underwater,” Coast Guard spokesman Todd Nelson announced.

“That increases the danger of sinking but only incrementally,” he said. “We are not talking right now about sinking.”

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Coast Guard officials said the swamped stern created a larger oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico, because instead of running over the top of the ship into the water, the oil now is going directly into the water.

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