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December 19th, 1972
The Sea Star Oil tanker was scheduled to sail from Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Another tanker was traveling the opposite way in the gulf of Oman, and both collided
The tanker that had collided with the Sea Star was known as the Horta Barbosa
This tanker and the Sea Star collided most likely due to the fact that the area in which these tankers would travel was only around 100 miles wide, but was still widely used by tankers in the middle east
Both tankers had been severely damaged, and twelve members of the Sea Star crew were killed in the collision.
The Sea Star tanker was left with a gaping 40 ft hole
Up to 115,000 tons of crude oil were spilled into the water (35.3 million gallons)
Damage was done to not only the tankers, but to the environment and the surrounding areas as well
Multiple species in the Gulf of Oman were affected, even if both tankers attempted to diffuse responsibility of ecological damage
Due to the area in the gulf being warm, and having little to no problems, there was a delicate system of zooplankton, fish, algae, and birds, plus sea lions and turtles
Most vegetation could not sustain itself after the spill, so the ocean floor became a barren wasteland
The area in the Oman gulf is still recovering to this day not only because of this disasterous spill, but others there, as well
The United Arab Emirates was the chief country in containing the Sea Star oil spill
The UAE, Oman area, and both tanker's compaies had shelled out over $2 billion in damages
Relief ships were putting out fires on the surface water for five days
The beaches of Oman and the neighboring Israel had to shut down their beaches, which affected tourism and thus the local economy
Even though the oil did not reach land, many fisheries in the area were shut down for a number of years
Several things had to be done to not only clean up, but rehabilitate the wildlife and area of the Oman Gulf
At Sea:
-The crews of the ships worked with the coastguards of Oman and the UAE to contain the spill
-Clean up involved lugging up the pieces left of the ships and their spilled oil
-Chemicals like Chlorine were used in decontaminating the area
On the Coast:
-Most of the coast was largely unaffected, but check-ups by the Oman coast guard and the UAE were done to insure the ecological health of any shore marinelife and preserve the citizens' way of life
-Oil detectors were put in at shores to double check the possibility of crude oil making its way to land
At the time of this major oil spill, there were not many laws regarding oil spills and man-made disasters to ecological health
The wildlife was seen, at the time, to be able to repair itself, so not much was done to aid the local flora and fauna after this disaster
Again, the Oman Gulf environment at sea is still recovering after 46 years
Even though both companies diffused their responsibility of the spill's negative affects on the environment, they still had to answer to the Oman people and the UAE
The Sea Star and the Horta Barbosa had both taken the blame for the crash, and both, along with the Oman coast guard, had helped detain and clean up the oil spill