THREAT TO ENVIRONMENT EASES AS OIL SLICK MOVES

The environmental threat from a crippled oil tanker ebbed Saturday as a slick of leaked oil apparently was moving away from land, officials said in Singapore. The tanker remained on fire, however.

Salvage crews worked for a second day on the 260,000-ton Maersk Navigator, and tugs hosed down the port side midship, where the fire is concentrated, the ship's owner said.The slick of oil from the ship was still growing but appeared to be moving westerly away from land and toward the Indian Ocean, Indonesian officials said.