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INTRODUCTION:
Captain
are
both
oil
was cruising in the carribean sea. They have collided few miles off island the coast of tobago
The collision killed 26 crew members (sailors) and spilling 287,000 tonnes of crude oil into the sea. The Atlantic Empress and the front part of the Aegean Captain went up in fire. it was the worst oil-tanker accident in history at that time.it is quite rare where an oil tanker collides with another oil tanker in the history.
Incident Information
Name: Atlantic Empress/Aegean Captain Date: 19 July 1979 Location: Caribbean Accident area: 18 miles of Tobago Cause of spill: collision Time of the incident: 7:15 pm Quantity transported: 280,000 tonnes,200,000tones by aeagen captain Type of pollutant: crude oil Quantity spilled: 287,000 tonnes
Atlantic Empress:
Ship type: oil supertanker Date built: 1974 Length: 347 m(which is longer than three stadiums) Width: 52 m Flag: Greek Continued in fire for 15 days
Routs Taken:
Atlantic Empress was sailing from Saudi Arabia to Texas, with a cargo of light crude oil owned by Mobil Oil. Aegean Captain was en route to Singapore from Aruba
in the Lesser Antilles. Aruba is small Caribbean island about the size of Washington D.C, located 25 km north of the coast of Venezuela.
347 m
Location of collosion
Nature of accident
During tropical storm of the island of Tobago and in heavy rain and very thick fog which reduced the visibility. -The two ships did not sight each other until they were 600 yards apart. -Aegean Captain notice the Atlantic impress changed course, unfortunately it was too late.
- the two ships impacted, with the Empress tearing a hole in the Captain's starboard bow
- - . Large fires began on each ship, which were soon beyond the control of the crews
- -The crews had to abandon the ship.
Nature of accident - On July 24, a week after the collision, the Empress was still
burning, and also listing, which consequence in the next day a larger explosion increased the rate to 7,000-15,000 gallons an hour, twice the original rate. - Finally, on 3 August, the Empress finally sank and has spilled all its quantity 276,000 metric tonnes of crude oil into the Caribbean Sea.
And the captain of the Atlantic empress was carried to Texas, for treating from fire inhald.
Clean up
There wasn't much clean up, actually because the climate was in charge to take care of it. The cargo was light crude, and it spilled in warm waters. This meant that much of the oil either evaporated or fell into the ocean in clumps, which were broken down by microbes. Also, a large amount of the cruid oil had burned off during the crash. Dispersants were sprayed by four planes and five boats on the small amout of oil floating in the tobago channel
Chart
Spills over 700 tonnes represent 3% of the total number of spills ,over 62% of these spills are result from collision and groundings.
Atlantic empress
Mobil response
it was decided to assemble an emergency meeting of the Pollution Response Team at Headquarters to decide upon a course of action. Mobil decided to respond, although it was in no way responsible for the accident or even for the resultant pollution, but because it was probably in the best position to mount an effective response and because the owners of the Atlantic Empress had requested Mobil to respond.
Mobil response
As a result of mobile decision a five-men team, consisting of representatives of Corporate Environmental Affairs, Mobil Shipping and Transportation Co., and Public Relations, were on the first available flight to Port of Spain, Trinidad,
Safety precautions: - Not to solely rely on the visual view that should be conducted by the navigators. -Maintain, updating the Radars devices and navigation equipment periodically in case, they go out of service suddenly. -Following the instructions and limits of the shipping lines, so each carrier knows its way preciously. -
Safety precautions cont : Keeping the communication with the control centre and with the nearest areas frequently during the whole sailing. -Avoiding the sailing in the bad weathers and whenever the sight is not clear, and stop the carriers if necessary.
Conclusion
The conclusions from this incident show that even an event of disaster proportions can be handled without serious pollution problems. Through a combination of preplanned response, good cooperation from all parties, selection of priorities to minimize pollution, and a lot of help from nature.
The sinking of the Atlantic Empress did not contaminate any shoreline or significantly impact the environment of the ocean. In addition, lessons were learned that will lead to even better preparation for such events in the future.
References
Gillis, Carly. "Atlantic Empress And Aegean Captain Oil Spill: A Brief History.