Norrisia
The incident
On the night of 4 to 5 March 2002, the 260 m long
oil tanker the Norrisia accidentally spilled around 1 m³ of fuel
oil during drydocking. When the ship has been placed on keelblocks,
the final discharge is carried out with the door open for safety
reasons. A fire boom was used, the only type of protection generally
used for small discharges in this type of situation, but did not
manage to contain the pollution in the dry dock. The majority of
the spillage seeped into the sea, pushed along by a light northeasterly
wind.
Response
Cedre was called upon for advice four times during
the night, first by the operating
company, then by the Préfecture Maritime and the fire brigade.
At dawn the Navy carried out an overflight by helicopter, and the
port of Brest and the Regional Equipment
Management organised suveillance operations by zodiac.
Two tugs
carried out an oil trawl. Cedre took part in the emergency plan
at the Préfecture Maritime, before carrying out a second
flight on an Alouette to direct nautical reponse operations. The
fragmentation and the dissipation of the pollutant made recovery
by trawling impossible and the Navy stopped these operations in
the late afternoon. Some deposits of pollutant were found on the southern shore of the
Elorn and on Plougastel peninsula, however shellfish farming remained
unaffected.
Cedre's
role
Other
than providing assistance for the on-call engineer and attending
the emergency plan meeting, Cedre took part in an overflight of
the Rade de Brest and the inlet, organised by the French Navy. Meanwhile,
two technicians from Cedre were onboard the tug prepared for an
oil trawl.
Name: Norrisia
Date: 4 January 2002
Location: France
Accident area: port of Brest, Finistère
Ship type: oil tanker
Length: 260 m
Type of pollutant: fuel oil
Quantity spilled: 1 m³
Lessons to be learnt
As
a result of this accident, the Harbour Master's office organised
a meeting, in which Cedre participated, with a view to providing
a containment system for the port of commerce for rapid use. Cedre
encouraged the port of commerce to collaborate with the military
port which already had a stock of booms and a skimming barge.
Last update: April 2006