Amoco Cadiz Accident

This accident occurred on March 16,1978 when an oil tanker named Amoco Cadiz carrying 223,000 tons of light Iranian and Arabian crude oil ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France. Approximately 4000 tons of bunker fuel was released into heavy sea, and most of it formed a viscous water-in-oil emulsion that increased the volume of pollutant by up to five times [27-29]. Oil and emulsion contaminated approximately 320 km of the coastline of Brittany, France by the end of April and extended as far east to Channel Island, UK. 

The accident resulted in the greatest loss of marine life ever recorded after the occurrence of an oil spill as millions of dead mollusks, sea urchins, and other benthic species washed ashore two weeks after the accident [29]. Furthermore, about 20,000 dead birds were recovered, in which diving birds constituted the majority. 

Additional information on this accident is available in References 27 

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In 1978, he Amoco Cadiz was wrecked in the same general area as the Torrey Canyon. Considerable ecological damage was also caused by this accident. However, the damage was less intense than that caused by the Torrey Canyon because less-toxic detergents and dispersants were used during the cleanup, in much smaller quantities, and only in high-value places such as harbors. 

Worldwide, the introduction of a wide variety of anthropogenic chemicals into waters and soils has caused a growing concern about the consequences of such practices. Public awareness concerning the vulnerability of the environment to pollution has only been heightened by major incidents such as the Union Carbide (DOW) Bhopal and the Seveso disasters, the Three Mile Island and the Chernobyl accidents, and the Amoco Cadiz and the Exxon Valdez oil spills. 

This spill off the coast of Alaska generated the most media attention in the United States of any spill anywhere in the world. It also led to the most comprehensive scientific investigation of such incidents although much less oil was spilled than in many other tanker accidents. For example, the Exxon Valdez spilled only one-sixth as much oil as the Amoco Cadiz and about one-half as much as the Prestige. It is estimated that the Amoco Cadiz spilled 220 000 tons of oil, probably the largest amount spilled by a tanker in history. 

Oil spills and detergent use from many famous shipping accidents such as the Torrey Canyon in 1967, the Amoco Cadiz in 1978 and the Sea Empress in 1996 (Bellamy et ah, 1967 White and Baker, 1998 Edwards and White, 1999). 

The production and transportation of petroleum products also poses environmental problems. Oil spills that occur during any phase of petroleum production and use may kill aquatic life and pollute an area for years. The worst oil spill in North America, for example, occurred during the wreck of the oil tanker Exxon Valdez in 1989, when 40,000 tons of crude oil were dumped into Alaska s Prince William Sound. The worst oil spill in the world occurred in 1978 as a result of the wreck of the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz off the coast of Brittany, France. More than 220,000 tons of oil were released during that accident. 

Most of the seabed areas leased for offshore operations have been confined to sectors of the GOM and regions adjacent to the southern coastline of Alaska. Much of the remainder of the vast U.S. OCS has been closed to leasing and drilling activities by moratoria enacted by Congress and supported by presidential directives. Generally, public opinion has supported the moratoria because of the environmental harms caused by the 1969 blowout and oil spill at the Amoco Cadiz drilling platform off the California coast and the 1988 Exxon Valdez tanker accident and spill in Alaska s Prince William Sound. 

Since the Torrey Canyon spiU, the spate of accidents that have occurred shows that the threat from accidental marine pollution remains (Amoco Cadiz, 1978, off Brittany, France Kark V, 1989, off the Atlantic coast of Morocco Exxon Valdez, 1989, Prince William Sound, Alaska, U.S.A. Haven, 1991, Genoa, Italy Braer, 1993, Shetland Islands, U.K. Sea Empress, 1996, Milford Haven, Wales, U.K. and Erika, 1999, off Brittany, France). 

Crude oil and refined fuel spills from tanker ship accidents have damaged natural ecosystems in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, France and many other places. The quantity of oil spilled during accidents has ranged from a few hundred tons to several hundred thousand tons (Deep water Horizon Oil Spill, Atlantic Empress, Amoco Cadiz) but... 

At the time, the Amoco Cadiz incident caused more loss of marine life than any other oil spill. Cleanup activities on rocky shores, such as pressurewashing, also caused harm. Two weeks after the accident, millions of dead... 

As far as the marine industry is concerned, tragic accidents such as the Herald of Free Enterprise and Derbyshire, together with environmental disasters such as Exxon Valdez and Amoco Cadiz, have focused world opinion on ship safety and operation (Wang (2002)). This demand for improved safety requires comprehensive safety analyses to be developed. Such safety analyses will ensure efficient, economic and safe ship design and operation. 

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