MV ''María Alejandra'' was a Spanish

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 ...

built in 1975 at

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

, Spain. She sank suddenly on high seas some off the coast west of

Nouadhibou Nouadhibou (; , ), formerly named Port-Étienne, is the second largest city in Mauritania and serves as a major commercial center. The city has about 173,000 inhabitants. It is situated on a 65-kilometre peninsula or headland called Ras Nouadhibou ...

, Mauritania, on 11 March 1980 after several internal explosions, presumably related to malfunctions in the

inert gas An inert gas is a gas that does not readily undergo chemical reactions with other chemical substances and therefore does not readily form chemical compounds. Though inert gases have a variety of applications, they are generally used to prevent u ...

system. Of the 43 people aboard, 36 perished. She was the penultimate ship built by Astilleros de Cádiz, Cádiz, one of the main shipyards in Spain. Before its completion the original customer, the Italian company D'Amico Società di Navegazione, canceled the contract. Finally in 1977 she was acquired by Mar Oil, member of the Wilson Walton group, to bring oil 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 ...

in 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 ...

to refineries in

Algeciras Algeciras () is a city and a municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of G ...

in southern Spain. During the return trip from Algeciras to Ras Tanura the ship was unloaded, in ballast.

Incident

On 4 March 1980 ''María Alejandra'' arrived in Algeciras Bay and unloaded the oil the vessel brought from the Persian Gulf at the

CEPSA Moeve, formerly known as Cepsa, (, "Spanish petroleum company, S.A.") is a Spanish multinational integrated energy and petroleum company headquartered at Torre Cepsa in the Cuatro Torres Business Area in Madrid. As of 2024, Moeve produced ...

refinery. During unloading, the crew found problems with the

system, which prevented explosions in the holds. The unloading ended on 6 March and preparations for the next leg back to Ras Tanura started next. In the first hours of 8 March she left port again, however, the problems with the inert gas system were not fully resolved, and the crew were working on them en route. After a stop at

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, ''María Alejandra'' was sailing south along the western African coast headed for the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

and the Indian Ocean. At about 13:30 hours Spanish time on 11 March an explosion was felt aboard, suddenly followed by other explosions. According to the survivors the ship broke apart and sank in about 40 seconds.

References

External links

*http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1980/03/13/001.html *http://astilleroscadiz.buques.org/Construcciones/AESA/Ultimas%20Construcciones.htm *http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/SUAREZ/_ADOLFO/MAR_OIL/_SA/hay/esperanzas/encontrar/supervivientes/Maria/Alejandra/elpepiesp/19800314elpepinac_30/Tes {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Alejandra 1975 ships Maritime incidents in 1980 Oil tankers Ships built in Spain