Tag: Maritime History

12th February marks 36 years after a major marine casualty in US waters, which changed USCG marine safety procedures. On the aftermath of the tragedy, which claimed lives of 31 crewmen, the US Coast Guard tightened its inspections of 20-year or older ships and initiated the rescue swimmer program, among others.

On 12 December 1999, the Erika, a 25 year-old single-hull oil tanker, broke in two off France, polluting almost 400 km of French coastline and causing unprecedented damage to marine environment, claiming the title of one of the most major environmental disasters of recent years.

In 2002, the Greek-owned and Bahamas-operated tanker ‘Prestige’ encountered heavy weather during a routine voyage and eventually sank off the coast of Spain, causing the worst environmental disaster in the country and one of the greatest oil spills in Europe.

The grounding of the Liberian-flagged container ship ‘Rena’ on the Astrolabe Reef resulted in a 200 tonnes HFO discharge into the water, while it is acclaimed as the second most expensive salvage operation in maritime history.

On July 23 1998, a destructive fire took place on board the car carrier "Eurasian Dream". The fire spread quickly, and despite the efforts from the crewmembers and fire-fighters, the vessel and a large amount of its cargo became a total loss.

Resulting from a fatal combination of heavy weather and human error and causing over 800 fatalities, the accident is considered as a significant part of Philippines heavy legacy of maritime disasters.

The Deepwater Horizon explosion is an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in 11 deaths, 17 injuries and a discharge of about 4.9 million barrels of oil into the sea, leaving a heavy legacy in the safety history of oil and gas industry.

On March 24th of 1989, one of the most catastrophic – if not the most catastrophic – oil spills of the 20th century took place. The tanker Exxon Valdez was departing the Port of Valdez, Alaska with a full load of North Slope crude oil.

The Singapore-flagged chemical tanker ‘Bow Mariner’ sank off Virginia after a fire broke out while its crew was engaged in cleaning residual from cargo tank, resulting in the death of 21 people, total loss of the ship, as well as significant marine pollution.

The fatal grounding of Costa Concordia cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea, resulting in 32 deaths, 64 serious injuries, and a ship total loss. The casualty remains a classic example of how human error, lack of alertness and failure of compliance with procedures can lead to maritime disasters.