Kairo
On
21 January 1998, a tank container adrift at sea off the coast of
Royan, was signalled by Spanish fishermen. Markings on the tanks
indicated that it contained a chemical classified as toxic and flammable
called Novoktan.
At
first, no information was found to identify the product from only
its brand name. Subsequent contact via email with our Canadian colleagues
at Canutec, informed us that Novoktan was made by a German firm,
Novoktan Gmbh.
Contact
with the German correspondent for the European chemical industry
environmental safety network allowed us to immediately obtain the
safety data sheet about the product, lead tetraethyl, which is a
toxic compound. Three tanks containing this substance had been declared
as lost at sea on 31 December 1997 by the Kairo, a ship heading
for the Channel, off the Spanish coast.
Contacts
between the Novoktan company and the French authorities ensured
safe intervention for recovery operations at sea and onshore storage. A
second container was located on 10 March, drifting in the Bay of
Biscay. The third one was located at sea on 28 April next to the
Landes coast. All
3 containers were successfully recovered by the French navy and
taken care of by Novoktan.
Name: Kairo
Date: 31 December 1997
Location: France
Accident area: off the coast of Royan, Atlantic coast
Cause of spill: damage to ship
Quantity transported: 6,240 tonnes
Type of pollutant: lead tetraethyl
Quantity spilled: 6,240 tonnes
Ship type: container ship
Flag: German
Last update: April 2006