Oil from a stricken tanker made landfall on one of the islands in the Galapagos chain, prompting fears of an ecological disaster.
The Ecuadoran oil tanker Jessica ran aground last week, releasing 600 tonnes of fuel oil over 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) of pristine sea off the islands, world famous as a nature reserve.
The slick struck the small Galapagos island of Santa Fe around midday Monday, 45 kilometers (30 miles) north of the spot off the island of San Cristobal where it first ran aground.
"The slick has hit the coast of Santa Fe, but the extent of the damage is not clear yet," said Mr Mauro Cerbino, spokesman for the ministry of the environment in Quito.
The Galapagos, a chain of islands in the Pacific some 1,000 kilometers (650 miles) off the coast of Ecuador, is home to some 9,000 rare giant tortoises, for which the islands were named. Ninety percent of the reptiles, 46 percent of the insects and about half the birds on the Galapagos are unique to the archipelago.
However, Mr Cerbino expressed hope that strong Pacific currents would drive the bulk of the oil away from the islands, which are among the world's ecological jewels.
The currents "could push the bulk of the oil spill into the open sea to the north, and away from the islands," he said.
The tanker ran aground while traveling to San Cristobal in the Galapagos from the southeastern Ecuadoran port city of Guayaquil to deliver the fuel oil. Galapagos National Park chief Mr Eliecer Cruz blamed the accident on a navigational error.
A US team was preparing Monday to siphon off some 160 tonnes of fuel oil remaining aboard the Jessica, which is listing at a dangerous 42-degree angle. The oil was to be pumped from the ship to an Ecuadoran navy vessel, the Taurus.
Hundreds of workers hoping to contain the spill had deployed floating booms around the stricken tanker on Friday and were using chemicals to break up the oil already spilled.
Ecuadoran President Gustavo Noboa has called a cabinet meeting for today to assess the situation, his office said.
AFP