Amazzone: the accident
During
the storm
On
the night of 30 January 1988, off the western coast of Brittany,
some 60 nautical miles (110 km) from Penmarc'h, the Italian oil
tanker the Amazzone suffered a violent storm from the northwest.
The Amazonne was travelling from Libia to Antwerp (Belgium), via
the Ushant Traffic Separation Scheme, with 32,000 tonnes of a
paraffinic crude onboard. A 10 to 12 m swell and force 12 winds
shook the ship.
The
sea beat violently against the front desk of the vessel, and eventually
detached the steel cables. The movement of the cables pulled off
the covers of 14 Butterworth openings, used for cleaning the tanks.
At first, the highly viscous black liquid was pushed back by the
water which began to surge in via the access openings. The oil
began to escape from the tanks when the vessel reached the Pointe
du Raz. The crew did not discover the damage to the vessel until
the following day, in the early hours of the morning.
2100
tonnes of fuel at sea
The
commanding officer continued his journey, less than 50 nautical
miles off the coast. He informed neither the Marine Rescue Coordination
Centre, Cross Corsen, nor the Préfecture Maritime, a legal
requirement. The tanker made her way up the Ushant Traffic Separation
Scheme in the storm. She did not stop in Brest to repair the damage.
It was not until some 12 hours after the damage had been discovered
that the insurers informed the authorities of the incident, who
noted the extent of the trail of pollutant left in the wake of
the Amazzone. 2100 tonnes of oil were spilled over a distance
of nearly 300 km.
The
paraffin-rich oil transported by the Amazzone had been heated
to 60 °C in the tanks. When it came into contact with
the wild sea, it cooled down and formed an emulsion. The slicks
fragmented into small patches, which were rapidly pushed towards
the French coast by violent winds.
The
pollution from the Amazzone. © Cedre
Onshore
pollution
The pollution reached the northern coast of Finistère on
2 February, then the southern coast on 5 February. The shores
of Cotentin were not spared, and were hit on the 8 February. On
the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, 15 km and 10 km repectively
of coastline were polluted.
Scattered
incidents of oil being washed up on the shore were recorded in
the three to four weeks following the disaster. The hydrocarbons
appeared in the form of cakes, pellets and scattered patches of
mousse. The thick, viscous seaweed-coloured pollutant stuck to
the pebbles, rocks, sand and seaweed. In total, nearly 3000 tonnes
of the slimy substance polluted the coastline.
Last update: April
2006