Pacific Glory
The incident
On
the evening of 23 October 1970, the tanker the Pacific Glory was
sailing from Nigeria to Rotterdam with a load of 70,000 tonnes of
Nigerian crude oil when the steam tanker the Allegro, loaded with
100,000 tonnes of Libyan crude oil, collided with her. An explosion
occurred on the Pacific Glory generating a fire. Oil began to leak
from the starboard side of the vessel. 13 of the 42 crew members
were killed in the incident.
The following day the Pacific Glory grounded 8 km from the shore.
The Allegro managed to continue her route to Fawley (near Southampton).
Response
It took the Portsmouth City Fire Brigade 40 hours to stop the fire.
Meanwhile tugs were spraying dispersants on the oil slicks. Response
operations were facilitated by the meteorological conditions. Some
of the oil was naturally dispersed in heavy seas. Luckily, none
of the 6,000 tonnes of spilled oil reached the tourist beaches of
the Isle of Wight. Only a few beaches from Sussex were slightly
polluted.
On 29 October, the Shell steam tanker the Halia began the lightering
of the Pacific Glory and pumped some of the remaining oil out of
her tanks. This operation took quite a long time as it was interrupted
because of the weather. The vessel was eventually refloated on 7
November. She was then towed to Lymes Bay, England, where water
was pumped from her tanks. She was then towed to Rotterdam, where
she arrived on 17 November. The Pacific Glory was declared a total
loss. Then, after one year left in the harbour, she was towed to
Hong Kong for repair. In November 1972, she changed ownership and
was renamed the Oriental Confidence.
Impact
and compensation
Thanks to the rapidity of the response operations, the incident
did not cause too much damage on the shoreline and very few oiled
birds were found. Compensation for response costs and economic impact, paid by the
TOVALOP fund, amounted to £330,000.
Sources:
- HOOKE, Norman, 1997, Maritime Casualties 1963-1996, second edition, LLP Limited, London
- NOAA, Oil spill case histories 1967-1991, Report No. HMRAD 92-11 to the US Coast Guard Research and Development Center
- IFP, Banques de données sur les accidents de navire ayant provoqué un déversement de pétrole en mer supérieur à 500 tonnes, 1970-1974, Réf. 26 704, Janvier 1979
- Department of Trade, Accidents at Sea Causing Oil Pollution, Review of Contingency Measures, London, 1978
Name: Pacific Glory
Date: 23 October 1970
Location: England
Accident area: 10 km off St Catherine Point, Isle of Wight
Cause of spill: collision
Quantity transported: 70,000 tonnes
Type of pollutant: Nigerian crude oil
Quantity spilled: 5,000 tonnes
Ship type: oil tanker
Date built: 1966
Shipyard: Sasebo Heavy Industries
Length: 243.54 m
Width: 36.58 m
Draught: 18 m
Flag: Liberian
Owner: Oceanic Tankers, Inc
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Last update: April 2006