That doesn't mean that they don't happen, of course, it just that the media seem to consider them so passé.

Recently, the South Korean authorities reported that they had experienced the worst oil spill in the nation's history, when the Hebei Spirit collided with a drifting barge.

Over 10,500 tonnes spilled out into the Yellow Sea, and is expected to seriously damage local wetlands and beaches.

As with many similar disasters, it would seem that this incident was caused by a combination of human error, mechanical failure and unfortunate circumstances.

The South Korean authorities have suggested that due to unseasonably warm weather, the consequences of this accident are likely to be worse than would have been the case with more average, colder weather.

Despite the fact that oil spills do not have such a high profile as they used to, a quick search of news archives this year reveal that this is the fourth incident worldwide of a major fuel spill into the marine environment.

The others occurred in the Crimea, Russia, the Balaeric Islands in Spain and the Napoli off the coast of Dorset.

All have had major impacts on marine life, particularly bird populations which end up being covered with oil, limiting their ability to fly.

As they preen their feathers, the birds will also ingest much of the oil, causing dehydration and other toxicological effects.

The constituent fractions of the oil will have different polluting effects.

Some fractions, such as benzene and toluene, while highly toxic are also volatile and disperse readily.

Other fractions such as the heavier than water poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are denser than water and will eventually sink. Dispersal of the heavier fractions is much slower and can have a pollution impact several decades after the spill.

Indeed, the oil spilled at Prince William Sound by the Exxon Valdez in 1989 is reckoned to be dispersing at the rate of only four per cent per year.

Researchers have suggested that there is still as much as 26,000 tonnes of oil still remaining in the environment from this accident.

Luckily, while oil spills are still fairly commonplace they are on the whole much smaller scale than 20 or so years ago.

This may account for the relative lack of media interest in more recent spills.

Oil spills are smaller scale largely as a result of the improvements in design of ships and other infrastructure.

Even when they occur, there is greater expertise on how to clean up after them, although as the Prince William Sound example illustrates, pollution can still be a threat long after the initial incident.

Details of the Korean oil spill can be found online at www.bbc.co.uk under Asia-Pacific News.