Annemasse
On 18 January 2004 at 6:30 am, a CFT river convoy
was travelling up the river from Fos-sur-Mer to Lyon, when it hit
a pillar
of the rail bridge which crosses the Rhone at La Voulte. The convoy
was made up of two barges, one transporting containers and the other
2200 m3 of liquid benzene. The flooded push tug began to sink. Of
the five crew members onboard, one lost his life, while the four
others managed to reach the container barge before the push tug
sank.
A number of leaks of benzene were detected
onboard the barge Annemasse, which
grounded on the lefthand bank of the river, facing La Voulte's town
centre. An exclusion area of 300 m around the vessel was
established. A mobile response centre and a crisis unit were then
set up. Gas transportation via a pipeline within the rail bridge
was stopped.
A 3 tier plan of action was established. First,
the container barge the Bourgogone was to be moved offsite. Secondly,
the contents of the barge carrying benzene, the Annemasse, were
to be transferred to another barge with nitrogen inerting. Finally,
the Annemasse was to be evacuated from the area. As
a precautionary measure, during the removal of benzene from the
barge, 500 inhabitants of the region surrounding the river were
evacuated.
The barge, emptied of the cargo of benzene, was then
towed upstream by three bulldozers and two push tugs. The ambiant
temperature, which was above benzene's melting point, did not prevent
the pumping of the liquid benzene.
Positive factors were the favourable, stable
weather conditions and the fact that the Annemasse was double-hulled,
together with good collaboration between services. However, the
massive arrival of often incoherent information proved confusing
for decision-makers and the lack of a specialised contingency plan
for river transportation of hazardous materials did not improve
the situation.
The duration of the operation was dependent on the
availability of private, specialised means and the time taken to
transport them to the site. This incident led to a review of the
departmental safety management and risk analysis policies and to
the creation of a specialised contingency plan.
Name: Annemasse
Date: 18 January 2004
Location: France
Accident area: La Voulte-sur-Rhône, Ardèche
Cause of spill: collision
Quantity transported: 2 200 m3
Type of pollutant: Benzene
Ship type: river convoy
Accident of a barge transporting benzene, La Voulte, 2004.
Source: Capitain LARATTA, SDIS 07.
More information
Last update: May 2007