Amoco Cadiz
![]() The sinking Amoco Cadiz
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History | |
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Name | Amoco Cadiz |
Owner | Amoco Transport Co. |
Port of registry | ![]() |
Builder |
|
Yard number | 95 |
Laid down | 24 November 1973 |
Launched | 1974 |
Completed | May 1975 |
Out of service | 16 March 1978 (aged 3–4) |
Identification | IMO number: 7336422 |
Fate | Sunk at 48°36′N 4°42′W / 48.6°N 4.7°W |
Notes | [1] |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 233,690 DWT; 109,700 GRT |
Length | 334.02 m (1,095.9 ft) |
Beam | 51.06 m (167.5 ft) |
Draught | 19.80 m (65.0 ft) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | Single screw |
Speed | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Capacity | 1.6 Mbbl (250×10 3 m3) |
Crew | 44 |
Notes | [1][2] |
Amoco Cadiz was a
Oil spill
On 16 March 1978 in a southwesterly
Amoco Cadiz ran aground for the first time at 9:04 pm.[3] She rode a high wave over a spire of rock which she then was impaled on.[4] The rock cut through the plating of her bottom and thrust into the network of piping and machinery of the pump room as well as rupturing the rear wall of number-four cargo tank.[4] The engine room was flooded.[5] She rolled and ground on the rock for about five minutes until another huge wave lifted her off and she continued her southwesterly drift, pulling the Pacific after her.[4] She drifted through a rocky maze through the Portsall Rocks and at 9:30 pm she ran aground for the second time.[4]
The second grounding of Amoco Cadiz was on the Men Goulven rock 2 km (1.243 mi) from the shore.[4] She hit the reef stern first and the bottom under the engine room was opened.[4] She pivoted round to the port and stopped with her bow pointing toward land.[4] She came to rest with her stern impaled on a rock about 12 metres under the surface and her bow on another six to seven metres deep.[4] Between these rocks the depth was 25 to 30 metres.[4] The Pacific had increased her towing speed, but shortly after 22:00 pm the second tow broke.[4]
After the second grounding the waves had broken Amoco Cadiz in two parts held together by distorted metal on the port side.[6] By 24 March the two parts were completely torn apart and the rear section had been swung 90 degrees around from pointing southwest to southeast.[6] On 25 March she was ready to break apart again and by 28 March the wreckage was further moved around by the tides and waves.[6]
By 29 March she had broken in three separate pieces and it was decided to destroy her with depth charges dropped from three Super Frelon helicopters.[6] The Navy dropped twelve Mark 56 anti-submarine grenades, each containing 350 lb (158.757 kg) of high explosives set to go off 8 m (26 ft 2.96 in) under water, and she sank some 15 minutes later.[6] Detonation of the charges was visible as huge water fountains and shook the ground ashore more than a mile away.[6][7][8][9]
Amoco Cadiz contained 1,604,500
Aftermath
In 1988 a U.S. federal judge ordered Amoco Oil Corporation to pay $85.2 million in fines; $45 million for the costs of the spill and $39 million in interest.[9] In 1992, Amoco agreed to pay $230 million (equivalent to $499m in 2023).[12]
The site is visited by leisure divers.[13]
See also
- SS Torrey Canyon – nearby and similar oil spill disaster in 1967
- MT Haven – formerly Amoco Milford Haven, sister ship of Amoco Cadiz, that sank causing an oil spill disaster in 1991
- List of environment topics
- List of oil spills
References
- ^ a b c "Amoco Cadiz (IMO 7336422): Summary for Casualty ID 19780316_001". Casualty Database. Center for Tankship Excellence. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
- ^ a b Visser, Auke (26 August 2010). "Amoco Cadiz". International Super Tankers. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
- ISBN 0233971475.
- ^ ISBN 0688069541.
- ISBN 0-670-80022-8.
- ^ ISBN 0233971475.
- ^ "SYND 29 3 78 oil tanker Amoco Cadiz depth charges". YouTube. AP Archive. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021.
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. pp. 233, 279. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Alt URL
- ^ a b c Boileau, David; Allen, Tony; Claes, Johnny (4 July 2009). "Amoco Cadiz (+1978)". The Wrecksite. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
- S2CID 36637679.
- ^ "Oil spill - Amoco Cadiz". incidentnews.noaa.gov. NOAA. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
- ^ "Amoco agrees to pay US$230m". www.insurance-times.net. 1 August 1992.
- ^ "40 years on, Brittany tanker wreck is magnet for divers". phys.org. 9 October 2018.
External links
Media related to Amoco Cadiz at Wikimedia Commons