The ''Amoco Cadiz'' oil spill took place on 16 March 1978, when the

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

Amoco Cadiz ''Amoco Cadiz'' was an oil tanker owned by Amoco, Amoco Transport Corp and transporting crude oil for Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Oil. Operating under the Liberian flag, she ran aground on 16 March 1978 on Portsall, Portsall Rocks, from the coast ...

'', owned by the American petroleum company

Amoco Amoco ( ) is a brand of filling station, fuel stations operating in the United States and owned by British conglomerate BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and petroleum, oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company i ...

, ran aground on Portsall Rocks, from the coast of

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, France. The vessel ultimately split in three and sank. The US

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

(NOAA) estimates that the total oil spill amounted to 220,880 tonnes of oil which amounts to over 58 million gallons or 256.2 million litres, making it the largest oil spill of its kind at the time.

Sequence of events

En route from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, The Netherlands, via a scheduled stop at Lyme Bay, United Kingdom, the

'', owned by the US-based petroleum company

, encountered stormy weather with

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

conditions and high seas while in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. At around 09:45, a heavy wave slammed into the ship's

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

, resulting in loss of control from the helm. This was later found to be due to the shearing of threaded studs in the ram steering gear, causing a loss of

hydraulic fluid A hydraulic fluid or hydraulic liquid is the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water. Examples of equipment that might use hydraulic fluids are excavators and backho ...

. Attempts to repair the damage and regain control of the ship were made but proved unsuccessful. At 10:20, ''Amoco Cadiz'' messaged that she was "no longer manoeuvrable" and asked other vessels to stand by, and a call for

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

assistance was issued later at 11:20. The German tug ''Pacific'' responded to ''Amoco Cadiz'' at 11:28, offering assistance under a Lloyd's Open Form. It arrived on the scene at 12:20, but because of the stormy sea, a tow line was not in place until 14:00, and broke off at 16:15. Several attempts were made to establish another tow line and ''Amoco Cadiz'' dropped anchor in an attempt to halt its drift. A successful tow line was in place at 20:55, but this measure proved incapable of preventing the tanker from drifting towards the coast because of its huge mass and storm Force 10 winds. At 21:04 ''Amoco Cadiz'' ran aground the first time, flooding its engines, and again at 21:39, this time ripping open the hull and starting the oil spill. Her crew was rescued by French Naval Aviation helicopters at midnight, and her captain and one officer remained aboard until 05:00 the next morning. At 10:00 on 17 March the vessel broke in two, releasing its entire cargo of of oil, and broke again eleven days later from the buffeting of high stormy seas. The wreckage was later completely destroyed with depth charges by the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

Oil spill

''Amoco Cadiz'' contained 1,604,500 barrels (219,797 tons) of

light crude oil Light crude oil is liquid petroleum that has a low density and flows freely at room temperature. It has a low viscosity, low specific gravity and high API gravity due to the presence of a high proportion of light hydrocarbon fractions. It generally ...

from

Ras Tanura Ras Tanura (, presumably due to the unusual heat prevalent at the cape that projects into the sea) is a city and semi-governorate in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia located on a peninsula extending into the Per ...

, Saudi Arabia, and Kharg Island, Iran. Additionally, she had nearly 4,000 tonnes of bunker oil. Severe weather resulted in the complete breakup of the ship before any oil could be pumped out of the wreck, resulting in its entire cargo of crude oil (belonging to

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

) and 4,000 tons of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine f ...

being spilled into the sea. A long slick and heavy pools of oil spread onto of the French shoreline by northwesterly winds. Prevailing westerly winds during the following month spread the oil approximately east along the coast. One week after the accident, oil had reached Côtes d'Armor. Oil penetrated the sand on several beaches to a depth of . Sub-surface oil separated into two or three layers due to the extensive sand transfer that occurred on the beaches during rough weather. Piers and slips in the small harbors from Porspoder to Brehat Island were covered with oil. Other affected areas included the pink granite rock beaches of Trégastel and Perros-Guirec, as well as the tourist beaches at Plougasnou. The total extent of oiling one month after the spill included approximately of coastline. Beaches of 76 different Breton communities were affected. Oil persisted for only a few weeks along the exposed rocky shores that experienced moderate to high wave action. In the areas sheltered from wave action, however, the oil persisted in the form of an asphalt crust for several years. Amoco Cadiz impact

The isolated location of the grounding and rough seas hampered cleanup efforts for two weeks following the incident. As mandated in the " Polmar Plan", the French Navy was responsible for all offshore operations while the Civil Safety Service was responsible for shore cleanup activities. Although the total quantity of collected oil and water reached 100,000 tons, less than 20,000 tons of oil were recovered from this liquid after treatment in refining plants. The nature of the oil and rough seas contributed to the rapid formation of a "chocolate mousse" emulsification of oil and water. This viscous emulsification greatly complicated the cleanup efforts. French authorities decided not to use dispersants in sensitive areas or the coastal fringe where water depth was less than . Had dispersant been applied from the air in the vicinity of the spill source, the formation of mousse might have been prevented. At the time, the ''Amoco Cadiz ''incident resulted in the largest loss of marine life ever recorded from an oil spill. Mortalities of most animals occurred over the two months following the spill. Two weeks following the accident, millions of dead

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

sea urchin Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...

s, and other bottom dwelling organisms washed ashore. Diving birds constituted the majority of the nearly 20,000 dead birds that were recovered. The

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

mortality from the spill was estimated at 9,000 tons. Fishermen in the area caught fish with skin ulcerations and tumors. Some of the fish caught in the area reportedly had a strong taste of petroleum. Although

echinoderm An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as ...

and small

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

populations almost completely disappeared, the populations of many species recovered within a year. Cleanup activities on rocky shores, such as pressure-washing, also caused habitat impacts. The ''Amoco Cadiz'' spill, the largest in history at that point, was one of the most studied; many studies remain in progress in the early 21st century. It was also the first spill in which estuarine tidal rivers were oiled. No follow-up mitigation existed to deal with asphalt formation and problems that resulted after the initial aggressive cleanup. Additional erosion of beaches occurred in several places where no attempt was made to restore the gravel that was removed to lower the beach face. Many of the affected marshes, mudflats, and sandy beaches, were low-energy areas. Evidence of oiled beach sediments can still be seen in some of these sheltered areas. Layers of sub-surface oil still remain buried in many of the impacted beaches.

Culture

The ''Amoco Cadiz'' and its spill features in one of Steve Forbert's songs about oil pollution. Speedy J has a song named "Amoco Cadiz" on his album ''A Shocking Hobby''. French popstar Alain Barriere had a disco hit in France with a song called "Amoco". Footage of the incident appeared in the film ''Days of Fury'' (1979), directed by Fred Warshofsky and hosted by

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...

Legal claims

In 1978, it was estimated to have caused US$250 million in damage to fisheries and tourist amenities. The French government presented claims totalling 1.9 billion

French franc The franc (; , ; currency sign, sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amoun ...

s to US courts (using the 1978 exchange rate and with interest added this came to at least US$1.6 billion). In 1984, US District Court Judge Frank J. McGarr held that Amoco was liable for damages when he issued his trial verdict, after 3½ years of legal proceedings. Further, the judge ruled that Amoco had put off needed maintenance on the vessel in order to keep it at sea. In 1992, Amoco decided not to appeal against the court order.
http://www.insurance-times.net/article/amoco-agrees-pay-us230m (accessed 15 May 2018).

References

External links