Al Samidoun
The Kuwaiti oil tanker the Al Samidoun, a single hull tanker built
in 1992, lost tens of thousands of cubic metres of her cargo of
Kuwait heavy in the Suez Canal near Ismailia, north of Lake Amer.
The conditions surrounding the accident are little known, and possibilites
include collision with a dredger or a wharf. The damaged hull leaked,
forming a slick several kilometres long.
Despite
contact with the Egyptian authorities and REMPEC, little information
was made available about this major pollution incident (organisations,
means used, impact...). The Egyptian press highlighted the authorities'
concern to avoid the pollution entering the Red Sea, near Suez city.
The authorities were informed that the slick had reached Port Saïd
(Mediterranean coast). Considerably less international media coverage
was devoted to this incident (the second maritime accident in the
canal in two months) than to the far less considerable spill which
occurred at the same time in Alaska, involving the Malaysian cargo
tanker the Selendang Ayu.
This incident did not affect the shipping traffic on the 190 km
long canal, which is a busy international route between the Mediterranean
and the Red Sea, with an average of 50 ships a day.
Name: Al Samidoun
Date: 14 December 2004
Location: Egypt
Accident area: Suez Canal
Cause of spill: collision
Quantity transported: 160,000 tonnes
Type of pollutant: Kuwait heavy crude oil
Quantity spilled: 8,600 tonnes
Ship type: single hull oil tanker
Date built: 1992
More information
Last update: April 2006