MV Sea Empress
P1
The Sea Empress was a completed in Spain in 1993 single-hull tankers, which caused wrecked and extensive heavy oil pollution on the coast of south-west Wales in 1996.
Circumstances of the accident
On February 15, 1996, with 130 018 tonnes of crude oil fully loaded Sea Empress, coming across the Channel from the North Sea Oil Terminal Hound Point in the Firth of Forth, on the way to the refinery in Milford Haven in Wales. To 20.07 clock Western European time the ship was due to an error by the pilot just before the harbor entrance, the mouth of the Daugleddau on rocks. Here, the hull was torn open on almost its entire length, three of the 14 cargo tanks and two empty starboard ballast tank and the pump room were damaged. The ship arrived with 18 ° flip side and überspültem bow on the opposite side of the fairway due to a halt. The night was without pumps reduced with water from the starboard tank, the flip side to 10 ° and the ship will be towed free again by partial flooding of the starboard ballast tanks. The increased depth would have a lightering required to bring the ship further into the harbor. On the afternoon of February 16, began to clear the five-meter- high pump room flooded with mobile pumps. Because of incipient deterioration of the weather, the ship was turned seaward on the afternoon of February 17 at high water with the bow, as the severe weather could be more easily weathered and lighterage would further have been possible. In this maneuver the ship was moved seaward at the same time, so that it lay at the salvage parties, including the pilot still located on site, in the field of a strong transverse to the fairway tidal flow without knowledge. At the onset of the low tide the tugs could not keep the boat and it ran about 18 clock back to base.
As a result, failed in some stormy weather numerous towing tests with an increasing number of tugs. The Sea Empress ran several times on both sides of the fairway on reason, with more tanks damaged and the existing damage has been increased. Thus, the pump room could not be emptied last thing a lightering prevented final at sea. Only twelve tugs succeeded on 21 February, the ship whose tanks were previously partially squeezed dry with compressed air or inert gas at the expense of further oil release, the unused pier of Herbrandston to haul in the port where it finally lightened to 2 March been. On March 27, the tanker was towed for repairs in a dry dock of Belfast.
From the distressed vessel tons of crude oil were 71,800 expired. In addition, the ship lost 480 tonnes of heavy oil. Due to the tidal current the releases were widely transported into the natural harbor into and along the coast. Dispersants were used on a large scale oil spill response. The surrounding coastline was located still to 200 km in length, mostly in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, heavily polluted by estimated 3,000 to 5,000 tonnes of oil. The most affected was the interior of the natural harbor to the Cleddau Bridge above Pembroke Dock and the east sea coast located to the Pendine Sands east of Pendine in Carmarthen Bay. But westward to the island of Skomer and something in the St Brides Bay in contamination occurred.