Amoco-Cadiz
The wreck of the Liberian tanker Amoco Cadiz in March, 1978 on border of the Breton coast, to Portsall, caused an oil spill considered, today still, as one of the worst ecological disasters of history.
Amoco Cadiz was a tanker of 234 000 tons built in 1974, registered in Liberia, 330 m long and belonged to the American company Amoco Transport.
This supertanker was built to transport some crude oil between Europe and Persian Gulf, which it did repeatedly until 1978.
On the morning of March 16th, 1978, the Liberian tanker Amoco Cadiz was transporting 227 000 tons of crude oil from Persian Gulf in the direction of Rotterdam. In the evening, a storm burst and the ship asked for help. Several attempts of towing were tried unsuccessfully, so it went towards the Breton coast and ran aground in Portsall. Help arrived very late, the oil had already begun to escape from the ship. 42 members of the 44-member crew were evacuated that very evening. Only the captain and the officer stayed on board until the next day.
During the day of the 17th, the boats bringing help were ready but were not equipped with pumps to draw the oil. The Navy had the idea of a pumping station. But it would take 10 to 15 days after the wreck. However the installation could not match the storm and meanwhile, the boat continued to pour its oil in the sea. On March 24th, the ship " cut in two ". On March 25th, the tanker had lost 85 to 90 % of its cargo and the pumping of the cargo had become useless. The wreck wasblown up locally on March 29th by the divers-mine clearance experts of the Navy to empty the rest of the oil directly and so avoid a permanent seepage of the holds which would have soiled the coast for the weeks
The wreck of the Liberian tanker Amoco Cadiz in March, 1978 on border of the Breton coast, to Portsall, caused an oil spill considered, today still, as one of the worst ecological disasters of history.
Amoco Cadiz was a tanker of 234 000 tons built in 1974, registered in Liberia, 330 m long and belonged to the American company Amoco Transport.
This supertanker was built to transport some crude oil between Europe and Persian Gulf, which it did repeatedly until 1978.
On the morning of March 16th, 1978, the Liberian tanker Amoco Cadiz was transporting 227 000 tons of crude oil from Persian Gulf in the direction of Rotterdam. In the evening, a storm burst and the ship asked for help. Several attempts of towing were tried unsuccessfully, so it went towards the Breton coast and ran aground in Portsall. Help arrived very late, the oil had already begun to escape from the ship. 42 members of the 44-member crew were evacuated that very evening. Only the captain and the officer stayed on board until the next day.
During the day of the 17th, the boats bringing help were ready but were not equipped with pumps to draw the oil. The Navy had the idea of a pumping station. But it would take 10 to 15 days after the wreck. However the installation could not match the storm and meanwhile, the boat continued to pour its oil in the sea. On March 24th, the ship " cut in two ". On March 25th, the tanker had lost 85 to 90 % of its cargo and the pumping of the cargo had become useless. The wreck wasblown up locally on March 29th by the divers-mine clearance experts of the Navy to empty the rest of the oil directly and so avoid a permanent seepage of the holds which would have soiled the coast for the weeks
The damages caused by the oil are felt in the effect on the ecosystems: We can count 3 000 to 4 000 corpses of birds and it is believed that 10 000 all in all will have died.
Fish and shell fish were affected, having absorbed some pollutants. Even in waters turbulent and very oxygenated by Brittany, they needed at least seven years for the marine species to recover totally.
The flora was relatively spared because we observed that certain seaweeds have a capacity to degrade the oil. Nevertheless, numerous seaweeds underwent a poisoning in the oil.
Fish and shell fish were affected, having absorbed some pollutants. Even in waters turbulent and very oxygenated by Brittany, they needed at least seven years for the marine species to recover totally.
The flora was relatively spared because we observed that certain seaweeds have a capacity to degrade the oil. Nevertheless, numerous seaweeds underwent a poisoning in the oil.
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