NATION : Tanker’s Stern Now Submerged

GALVESTON, Tex. — 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.”

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.