History of Major Oil Spills in the Ocean

What exactly are oil spills?

Background

• Crude oil can be found in oceanic reservoirs
• Oil companies drill into these reservoirs and transfer it through pipes to get to refineries
• Oil spills are more common then you might think
• Large oil spills are the result of broken pipelines, sinking ships or operations gone wrong
• Oil spills can affect various ecosystems, create oil toxicity in the water, and have long-standing effects

Pictured: A mallard found covered in crude, following an oil spill in western South Korea

Torrey Canyon Oil Spill

Scilly Isles, United Kingdom

1967

The Torrey Canyon Oil Spill was one of the first major spills in history. 25 to 36 million gallons of oil was spilled, killing more than 15,000 sea birds and aquatic animals.

Royal Navy vessels tried to disperse the oil with a toxic solvent-based cleaning agent, but instead this caused a lot of environmental damage.

They decided to try and burn away the oil by dropping bombs into the ocean.

Sea Star Oil Spill

Gulf of Oman

1972

The Sea Star Oil Spill in 1972 occurred when 2 supertankers collided. Both vessels caught fire after the collision.

And although the other ship was extinguished within a day, the Sea Star sank into the gulf of Oman following several explosions.

Amoco Cadiz Oil Spill

Portsall, France

1978

The Amoco Cadiz ship was caught in a heavy winter storm during the late 1970's. Even though distress calls were made and several ships responded...none were able to prevent the ship from sinking.

The day after, the ship broke in half and its 69 million gallons of oil spilled into the English Channel.

Ixtoc 1 Oil Spill

Bay of Campeche off Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico

1979

This oil spill occurred following the blowout of an oil well owned by Mexican petroleum company, Pemex. Oil spilled at a rate between 10,000 and 30,000 barrels a day for approximately a year before the well could be capped.

In total, 140 million gallons were spilled, and this disaster was one of the first massive oil spills on a tropical marine environment.

Atlantic Empress Oil Spill

Off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago

1979

90 million gallons of oil were spilled following a collision between the Atlantic Empress and Aegean Captain. This collision took place due to the Atlantic Empress losing control in a tropical storm.

After 2 weeks, the oil tank sunk into deep water, where the remaining oil solidified.

Nowruz Oil Field Spill

Persian Gulf, Iran

1983

The Nowruz Oil Field Spill occurred when a tanker collided with an oil platform, resulting in the oil platform collasping.

The reasoning behind this could be that the platform was weakened beforehand and the ongoing war between Iran and Iraq prevented the spill from being capped quickly.

Kolva River Oil Spill

Kolva River, Russia

1983

The Kolva River Oil Spill occurred in the early 1980's when a poorly maintained pipeline collasped. The pipe had been leaking for 8 months but likely due to the changes in weather, the pipe burst, dumping millions of gallons of oil into streams, bogs, and marshlands.

Castillo de Bellver Oil Spill

Saldanha Bay, South Africa

1983

This spill occurred after a Spanish oil tanker caught in fire 70 miles north west of Capetown, before splitting in two.

31 million gallons of oil sunk alongside the tanker itself, 3 people were killed, and 79 million gallons were spilled. In the 24 hours following the disaster, "black rain" of oil droplets fell on wheat-growing and sheep-grazing fields.

Odyssey Oil Spill

Off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada

1988

The Odyssey Oil Spill occurred about 700 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland. It spilled more than 40 million gallons of oil into the ocean during the late 1980's.

Arabian Gulf/Kuwait

Persian Gulf, Kuwait

1991

Considered to be the worst oil spill in history, this disaster wasn't an accident - it was planned. Occurring during the Gulf War, Iraqi forces opened valves from a nearby oil terminal and dumped approximately 450 gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf to prevent US soldiers from reaching land.

This resulted in 4,000 square miles of the Persian Gulf being covered by a 4 inch thick layer of oil.

ABT Summer Oil Spill

Off the coast of Angola, Africa

1991

The ABT Summer Oil Spill occurred when a ship exploded and discharged around 51 to 81 million gallons of oil into the ocean. 5 out of the 32 crew members were killed in this incident.

The ship burned for 3 days before it inevitably sunk. Unfortunately, efforts made to locate the wreckage were unsuccessful.

M/T Haven Tanker Oil Spill

Genoa, Italy

1991

The M/T Haven Tanker exploded off the coast of Italy during the early 1990's. It killed six people and leaking its remaining oil into the Mediterranean for 12 years. People think the reasoning behind this event could be that the ship was repaired poorly because during the Iran-Iraq war it was hit with a missile but still put into operation.

Gulf Oil Spill

Gulf of Mexico

2010

Known as the largest accidental oil spill in history, his began after an oil well a mile below the Gulf surface blew out. Attempts to prevent the oil from spreading were unsuccessful.

11 people working on the Deepwater Horizon rig were killed, alongside hundreds of birds and marine life. 206 million gallons of oil were spilled across 572 miles of shoreline, for over 85 days, and after more than a decade, damages to the ecosystem are still being uncovered.

Looking Ahead: Prevention of Oil Spills

Looking Ahead

• Oil Booms
• Skimmers
• Sorbents
• Burning In-Situ
• Disperstants
• High-Pressure Washing
• Manual Labor
• Bioremediation
• Elastomizers
• Natural Recovery

This image shows how an oil boom can help keep oil in one spot instead of all over the ocean.

Bibliography

Moss, Laura. “The 13 Largest Oil Spills in History.” Treehugger, www.treehugger.com/the-largest-oil-spills-in-history-4863988.

Perera, O. (2021, August 25). 10 methods for oil spill cleanup at sea. Marine Insight. https://www.marineinsight.com/environment/10-methods-for-oil-spill-cleanup-at-sea/.

Oil spills. Oil spills | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (n.d.). https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/oil-spills.

Bibliography