History’s 10 Most Famous Oil Spills

March 26th, 2008 · 9 Comments

Use the links below to learn more about ten of the world’s largest oil spills.

Amoco Cadiz
The Amoco Cadiz encountered stormy weather and ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France on March 16, 1978. Its entire cargo of 68.7 million gallons of oil spilled into the sea, polluting about 200 miles of Brittany’s coastline.

Arabian Gulf Spills
Beginning in late January of the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqi Army destroyed tankers, oil terminals, and oil wells in Kuwait, causing the release of about 900,000,000 barrels of oil. This was the largest oil spill in history.

Argo Merchant
On December 15, 1976, the Argo Merchant ran aground on Fishing Rip (Nantucket Shoals), 29 nautical miles southeast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts in high winds and ten foot seas. Six days later, the vessel broke apart and spilled its entire cargo of 7.7 million gallons of No. 6 fuel oil.

Barge Bouchard 155
On August 10, 1993, three ships collided in Tampa Bay, Florida: the barge Bouchard 155, the freighter Balsa 37, and the barge Ocean 255. The Bouchard 155 spilled an estimated 336,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil into Tampa Bay.

Barge Cibro Savannah
On March 6, 1990, the Cibro Savannah exploded and caught fire while departing the pier at the Citgo facility in Linden, New Jersey. About 127,000 gallons of oil remained unaccounted for after the incident. No one knows how much oil burned and how much spilled into the environment.

Burmah Agate
On November 1, 1979, the Burmah Agate collided with the freighter Mimosa southeast of Galveston Entrance in the Gulf of Mexico. The collision caused an explosion and a fire on the Burmah Agate that burned until January 8, 1980. An estimated 2.6 million gallons of oil were released into the environment, and another 7.8 million gallons were consumed by the fire.

Exxon Valdez
On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The tanker was traveling outside the normal shipping lanes in an attempt to avoid ice. It spilled 10.8 million gallons of oil (out of a total cargo of 53 million gallons) into the marine environment, and impacted more than 1,100 miles of non-continuous Alaskan coastline. State and Federal agencies continue to monitor the effects of this spill, which was the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

Ixtoc I
The 2-mile-deep exploratory well, Ixtoc I, blew out on June 3, 1979 in the Bay of Campeche off Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico. By the time the well was brought under control in March, 1980, an estimated 140 million gallons of oil had spilled into the bay. The Ixtoc I spill is currently #2 on the all-time list of largest oil spills of all time.

Jupiter
On September 16, 1990, the tank vessel Jupiter was offloading gasoline at a refinery on the Saginaw River near Bay City, Michigan, when a fire started on board and the vessel exploded.

Megaborg
The Megaborg released 5.1 million gallons of oil as the result of a lightering accident and subsequent fire. The incident occurred 60 nautical miles south-southeast of Galveston, Texas on June 8, 1990.

Source: NOAA Incident News

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Categories: MARPOL Incidents · Photo · Tankers

Tags: · MARPOL Incidents, Photo, Tankers

9 responses so far ↓

1 capdiamont // Nov 24, 2007 at 12:45 pm

What do these sites look like today? What was the total environmental effect?
2 All time worst oil spills « Capdiamont’s Weblog // Nov 24, 2007 at 1:06 pm

[…] All time worst oil spills Saturday 24 Nov 2007, 01:05 Filed under: Uncategorized Over on gCaptain’s blog, he has posted all time worst oil spills. […]
3 Chris Allport // Nov 25, 2007 at 7:22 am

If you want to view a really comprehensive tabulation of the all time worst oil spills why not take a look at the Center for Tankship eXcellence database on:- http://www.c4tx.org/ctx/job/cdb/search.html

This site really puts some perspective into some of the events displayed.
4 John // Nov 25, 2007 at 10:26 am

Wow, great find. Thanks, Chris.
5 Chris Allport // Nov 25, 2007 at 2:16 pm

Approaching 50 years in the maritime industry I am minded to seriously consider indicators which alert us to areas of concern. When I found the CTX website with the spill database I also found Jack Devanny’s book ‘The Tankship Tromedy’ which you can download or order in print from Amazon. Having met and having high regard for others of unbending principals, such as Captain Richard Cahill with his books on Collisions, Groundings and Maritime Disasters , I look closely at these professionals who are alerting the industry to potential catastrophes. I still have a passion for the industry in which I spent my whole career and care for it’s safe future. When I hear dedicated maritime professionals like Richard and Jack raise very serious concerns about the regulatory bodies it is time to take notice. In his book Jack Devanney demonstrates conclusively that the majority of tanker casualties resulting in catastrophic pollutions are due to hull structural failures. I support his findings. If these structural failures can be eliminated then we would cut the volume of oil spilled and more importantly the tanker casualty deaths by half. I recommend those of similar mind to read his book. Brgds Chris Allport
6 Fred Fry International: Maritime Monday 86 // Nov 26, 2007 at 12:10 pm

[…] has the Maritime Administration’s initiative: “American’s Marine Highway”gCaptain also has “History’s 10 Most Famous Oil Spills”—————————————–Clearly the story of the week is the sinking of the M/V […]
7 Minerals Gemstones Top 25 // Dec 5, 2007 at 1:29 am

source:Historys 10 Most Famous Oil Spills
8 Tim // Mar 28, 2008 at 3:49 pm

The Torrey Canyon deserves a mention also, not just for the spill, but the balls up of a clean up operation involving chemicals and firebombing. It was the spill that helped create the CLC 1969. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrey_Canyon
9 Florida offshore oil rigs - Page 15 - ScubaBoard - Scuba Diving Forums and Social Network // Jul 13, 2008 at 3:58 pm

[…] History’s 10 Most Famous Oil Spills | gCaptain.com 10 Largest Oil Spills (The Valdez Doesn’t Make the List) Written by Hank Green Thursday, 28 February 2008 The Exxon Valdez, the tanker responsible for the worst oil spill in American history, has come back into the news this week, as the Supreme Court finally decides the price that Exxon will pay for ruining the fishing industry in Alaska. But it will likely surprise you to know that the Valdez spill was actually only the 34th largest oil spill in history. These ten oil spills, all massively larger than the Exxon Valdez, were all smaller new stories, either because the ships were offshore, or dropped their toxic loads in less developed parts of the world. The Valdez spilled 10 million gallons off the coast of Alaska, the smallest spill in the top ten was four times larger. Kuwait - 1991 - 520 million gallons Iraqi forces opened the valves of several oil tankers in order to slow the invasion of American troops. The oil slick was four inches thick and covered 4000 square miles of ocean. Mexico - 1980 - 100 million gallons An accident in an oil well caused an explosion which then caused the well to collapse. The well remained open, spilling 30,000 gallons a day into the ocean for a full year. Trinidad and Tobago - 1979 - 90 million During a tropical storm off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago, a Greek oil tanker collided with another ship, and lost nearly its entire cargo. Russia - 1994 - 84 million gallons A broken pipeline in Russia leaked for eight months before it was noticed and repaired. Persian Gulf - 1983 - 80 million gallons A tanker collided with a drilling platform which, eventually, collapsed into the sea. The well continued to spill oil into the ocean for seven months before it was repaired. South Africa - 1983 - 79 million gallons A tanker cought fire and was abandoned before sinking 25 miles off the coast of Saldanha Bay. France - 1978 - 69 million gallons A tanker’s rudder was broken in a severe storm, despite several ships responding to its distress call, the ship ran aground and broke in two. It’s entire payload was dumped into the English Channel. Angola - 1991 - more than 51 million gallons The tanker expolded, exact quantity of spill unknown Italy - 1991 - 45 million gallons The tanker exploded and sank off the coast of Italy and continued leaking it’s oil into the ocean for 12 years. Odyssey Oil Spill - 1988 - 40 million gallons 700 nautical miles off the cost of Nova Scotia. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a disaster, but so were the 33 oil spills that were, in fact, worse. Spills have slowed down in recent years, due to advances in logistics and tanker hulls. There are no longer any new single-hulled tankers being built…but there are still plenty that haven’t yet been decommissioned. But as long as we’re dependent on the stuff, there will be accidents, as there were three in 2007 alone, one of over 3 million gallons of oil. __________________ Nemo Me Impune Lacessit There will always be greater and lesser men than yourself http://www.photodex.com/sharing/memberbrowsego.html […]