Since salvage operations resumed on Sunday, some 12,000 tonnes of oil has been transferred from the Greek-controlled MV Tasman Spirit, Karachi Port Trust official Brigadier Iftikhar Ahmed said.

"But bad weather is severely creating a hindrance and forcing us to stop it," Ahmed told AFP.

The Tasman Spirit split in two near the busy Arabian Sea port of Karachi last week after running aground on July 27.

Some 20,000 tonnes were salvaged from the ship before it broke up on August

The spill is the worst experienced by Pakistan and has destroyed young mangroves, turtles and fish along Karachi's 16-kilometer (10-mile) coastline.

A clean-up operation launched early this week to scrape the thick black sludge from the city's popular Clifton Beach continued despite the rough weather.

City council workers and 300 Karachi Port Trust employees were helping to remove the blackened sand, Ahmed said.

Authorities have closed the beach to the public and do not expect to open it for another month.

"Primary cleaning is being carried out now and it may take a couple of weeks. A secondary cleaning would follow that may take as long as the primary cleaning," Ahmed said.

Pakistan launched an inquiry Wednesday into the ship's grounding and break-up. Port officials said they believe navigational error was the cause, dismissing speculation that it was deliberately grounded.

TERRA.WIRE