The Amorgos

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

began on 14 January 2001 near

Kenting National Park Kenting National Park ( zh, c=墾丁國家公園, hp=Kěndīng Gúojiā Gōngyuán}), commonly known as Kenting ( zh, c=墾丁, hp=Kěndīng), is a national park located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan, covering Hengchun, ...

, off the southern

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Cause

On 14 January 2001, the Greek

merchant vessel A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which a ...

''Amorgos,'' lost power while en route from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

North China North China () is a list of regions of China, geographical region of the People's Republic of China, consisting of five province-level divisions of China, provincial-level administrative divisions, namely the direct-administered municipalities ...

. The carrier was transporting approximately 60,000 tons of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

and an estimated 1,000 to 1,150 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 ...

when the ship suffered engine failure near

, off the southernmost tip of

. The crew subsequently abandoned the ship, and all 25 crew members were rescued by the

Coast Guard Administration The Coast Guard Administration of the Ocean Affairs Council (CGA), also operating as the ROC Coast Guard, is charged with maintaining law and order; protecting the resources of the territorial waters of the Republic of China (Taiwan), which surr ...

(CGA) of Taiwan. Due to deteriorating weather and sea conditions, the hull of the ''Amorgos'' split, and oil began to leak from the vessel beginning 18 January 2001.

Spillage and ecological effects

Approximately 1,300 tons of fuel oil leaked from the ''Amorgos'' into the sea surrounding

, causing major damage to the

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

and local

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

is an ecological attraction that draws millions of tourists each year due to its warm climate and its many natural phenomena, including

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

caves,

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

forests and coastal

rainforests Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

. Around 4 to 5 kilometers of the

shoreline was oiled by the spillage, creating a hazardous environment for the 200 bird species and estimated 2,200 plant species within the park. Park officials reported that contaminated

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

and dead fish, crabs, shrimp, and clams have washed ashore.

Delayed response

There were many factors that contributed to the delayed response and subsequent clean-up efforts concerning the ''Amorgos'' incident. The spill took place about two months after the

Marine Pollution Control Act Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * Marin ...

(MPCA) of Taiwan was publicized. As a result, the spill occurred during a transitional period in which the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) and its Salvage Council for Maritime Disasters was delegating its authority to the

Environmental Protection Administration The Ministry of Environment (MOENV; ), formerly the Environmental Protection Administration, is a cabinet-level ministry responsible for protecting and conserving the environment in Taiwan. The ministry's scope includes air quality, noise contro ...

(EPA). The jurisdiction among the MOTC, CGA, and the EPA was unclear; therefore, it took longer for the EPA to open an investigation into the spill, allowing more time for the oil to cover a larger area and lay waste to maritime and coastal species. The second factor was the observance of the

Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...

holidays, making it difficult for companies to hire local residents to clean up the mess. After the 5-day holiday, 40 local workers were hired in addition to 8000 soldiers commissioned to take part in the clean-up operations. The third factor was the severe weather conditions that hampered efforts to clean up the oil. As a result, clean-up was restricted to manual retrieval of oil using buckets, hand nets, and

scoop Scoop, Scoops or The Scoop may refer to: Artefacts * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (theater), a type of wide area l ...

Clean-up timeline

Of the 1,300 tons of

that was spilt, some has been lost due to natural

dispersion Dispersion may refer to: Economics and finance *Dispersion (finance), a measure for the statistical distribution of portfolio returns * Price dispersion, a variation in prices across sellers of the same item *Wage dispersion, the amount of variat ...

and

evaporation Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the Interface (chemistry), surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. A high concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evapora ...

by means of severe weather and rough seas. The

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

was later

emulsified An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although ...

due to the

wave In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from List of types of equilibrium, equilibrium) of one or more quantities. ''Periodic waves'' oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium ...

patterns which subsequently increased the area and volume of the spill. Despite these occurrences, most of the

reached the Lungkeng Ecological Preservation Area within the

. The affected

shoreline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

consists of fossilized coral and various

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

s, making access to the oiled areas difficult. As a result, manual collection of

was the only feasible option.

Shoreline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

clean-up began on 25 January 2001, and lasted until about 14 February 2001, in which an estimated total of 300 tons of

had been collected.

Lawsuit and settlement

The EPA later sued

Assuranceforeningen Gard Gard is a mutual company and operates around the world within marine insurance. It is the largest Protection and indemnity insurance, Protection & Indemnity insurer of the 12 P&I Clubs that are members of the International Group of P&I Clubs. Ga ...

—the Norwegian insurer of the ''Amorgos'' as a result of the damage caused by the

. Instead, the EPA settled with Assuranceforeningen Gard in March 2006, resulting in the ship's owner agreeing to pay a total of NT$34 million ().

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

*Research for this

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entry was conducted as a part of a Science of Oil Spills course (EN.530.119.13) offered in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. *http://dropps.utmsi.utexas.edu/ *http://gulfresearchinitiative.org/ 2001 in the environment 2001 in Taiwan Environment of Taiwan Oil spills in Asia 2001 disasters in Taiwan