Peru declared an environmental emergency Saturday to battle an oil spill caused by freak waves from a volcanic eruption in the South Pacific.

Japanese Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on Saturday Tokyo planned to send a team of officials from the ministry and other specialists to Mauritius to assess the damage from an oil spill.

Oil has washed up on at least two dozen beaches in the south of France following a collision between two cargo ships near Corsica some two weeks ago, according to local authorities and media reports.

Firefighters on Wednesday afternoon were still battling the blaze sparked by an oil spill at about 1:30 am in a residential area. Several homes were also destroyed.

The poor conditions, with strong winds, rain and waves as high as 3 metres, frustrated efforts to tame the oil tanker fire and search for the 31 remaining crew members, the Ministry of Transport said.

Emergency workers are battling to contain an oil spill near a joint Kuwaiti-Saudi oilfield in the Gulf, an official said on Sunday.

Hundreds of students and fishermen were working on Friday to clean up an oil spill on India's southern coast that campaigners say threatens the turtles that nest there every year.