Pacific Colocotronis
The incident
On
22 September 1975, the oil tanker the Pacific Colocotronis left
Algeria for Wilhemshaven (Germany) with a load of around 72,000 tonnes
of light crude oil. On 28 September, the vessel was sailing along
the Dutch coasts when the crew heard a concerning noise and oil
began to leak. The commanding officer ordered the Pacific Colocotronis
to be anchored to check the extent of the damage. The source of
the leak came from a fracture on the port side of the vessel. Around
500 tonnes of oil were lost.
The master immediately contacted the tanker’s agents Rijnmond
Scheepsagenturen in Rotterdam who notified the authorities of the
incident. The Oil Pollution Control official sent two boats on site,
the oil combating vessel Smal Agt and the tug boat Holland.
Loclisation of the incident
(click on the map)
Response
The situation did not appear to be too hazardous and the weather
forecast was quite good. It was decided to wait until the following
day to start the response operation. However the necessary precautions
were taken in case weather conditions would worsen. A dredging firm
was asked to keep a ship on stand-by for a sand sinking operation.
The Marine Division of the British Department of Trade was contacted
as help from a British oil-cleaning vessel might be needed. Fina
Nederland BV was contacted for a possible urgent delivery of dispersants.
Representatives from the North Sea Directorate, the shipping company
and the insurance company were sent aboard the Pacific Colocotronis.
Inspection of the vessel showed a situation far worse than first
thought. Two large fractures continued below water level. Response
action had to be taken rapidly. Britain was asked to send an oil-cleaning
vessel as soon as possible.
On
30 September the Pacific Colocotronis had lost around 1,500 tonnes
of oil. The weather forecast announced a change of wind direction
from southwest to west-northwest, meaning that oil slicks
would be likely to drift towards the Dutch coast. Hence, action
had to be taken before this happened.
Two groups of response operations were created. One for an
oil-cleaning operation and the other for getting the tanker
into port. England was asked to send another vessel. Germany
was asked to keep a vessel on stand-by. Possibilities of lightering
the cargo of the Pacific Colocotronis were inspected. A number
of aerial surveillance flights were made between 29 September
and 20 October. Experts decided to use dispersants to fight
the oil slick. In total, response vessels sprayed 190 m³
of dispersants on the oil slick.
Later that day the lightering operation began. The port of
Ijmuiden authorised the entry of the Pacific Colocotronis
on 1st October, provided she sailed in full daylight and that
oil combating equipment (booms, oil-cleaning vessel…)
was available. This was successfuly implemented.
Name: Pacific Colocotronis
Date: 28 September 1975
Location: Channel / North Sea
Accident area: off Dutch coast
Cause of spill: fracture on port side
Quantity transported: 72,227 tonnes
Type of pollutant: light crude oil
Quantity spilled: 1,500 tonnes
Ship type: oil tanker
Date construction: 1975
Length: 248.74 m
Width: 36.58 m
Flag: Greek
Owner: Rijnmond Scheepsagenturen
P&I Club: West of England Ship Owners Mutual Protection & Indemnity Association
Low ecological impact
Observation from the National Research Institute (RIVO) revealed
neither dead organisms in the area nor traces of oil in fish.
The Netherlands Research Institute (NIOZ) sent the research ship
Aurelia on site to carry out a number of investigations on sea plankton
and to observe birds. These investigations revealed no direct effect
of the pollution on the density of plankton. However samples were
taken soon after the incident and longer contact with the oil may
have caused death. The area had a low bird population especially
at that time of the year and very few oiled birds were found.
On 7 October, about one week after completion of clean-up operations,
oil arrived on the coast. Beaches between Noodwijk and Heemskerk
were hit. However the Institute for Inland Water Management and
Waste Water Treatment (RIZA) analysed this oil and found out that
it did not match that of the Pacific Colocotronis.
Compensation
Rijnmond Scheepsagenturen and its Protection & Indemnity club,
the West of England Ship Owners Mutual Protection & Indemnity
Association, were liable for the pollution. They had subsribed through
ITOPF (International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation) to the
TOVALOP (Tanker Owners Voluntary Agreement concerning Liability
for Oil Pollution). The total compensation paid is unknown but the
cost of oil dispersion amounted to between 360,000 and 450,000 euros.
Source:
- Rijkswaterstaat - Directie Noordzee (the Netherlands Public Works Department, North Sea Directorate), "Pacific Colocotronis" oil spillage, september/october 1975, NZ-R-78-011, December 1975
Last update: June 2011