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Khark 5 SpillKhark 5 Spill400 miles north of Las Palmas, Canary Islands Location 12/19/89 Incident Summary On December 19, 1989, the Iranian tanker Khark 5 bound for refineries in Northern Europe exploded and caught fire approximately 400 miles north of the Canary Islands. An estimated 452,400 barrels (19 million gallons) of the 1,714,300 barrels (72 million gallons) on board spilled into the sea. The 35 crew members were rescued by the passing Soviet vessel Sarny. Ocean currents carried the abandoned vessel south towards the Canary Islands. A Moroccan Government Response Task Force consisting of members from the Moroccan Royal Navy, Interior Ministry, Ministry of Fisheries, and the Civil Defense Force responded to the incident. According to a joint Spain/Morocco contingency plan, the Spanish government was prepared to provide aid if necessary. The Moroccan government sent a formal request to the U.S. Coast Guard for technical assistance in evaluating the situation. An Atlantic Strike Team (AST) representative was sent to the scene on January 4, 1990. The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) provided cleanup equipment and an on-scene advisor. Smit Tak, a Dutch salvage company, repaired a 60 foot by 90 foot hole in the vessel's port side. Early efforts to tow the damaged vessel away from the shore were hampered by 8-foot waves and high winds. On January 1, a tug secured a line to the Khark 5 and began towing the vessel towards the Madeira Islands off Portugal as Morocco and Spain refused to allow the vessel close to their shores. Fourteen aircraft and seven boats were used to spray detergents on the slick. Behavior of Oil Iranian Heavy crude oil has an API gravity of 31, a viscosity of 9.36 centistokes, and a pour point of -5 degrees F. The ITOPF representative flew over the stricken vessel on December 21 and 24 from London and reported oil leaking from the ship at a slow rate. The ITOPF representative conducted daily overflights based from Morocco beginning on December 29. Over the next few days he reported that oil was staying in the same general offshore areas with a southwesterly longshore drift. A large slick from the initial release drifted to within 12 miles coast of Morocco by January 2. On a January 5 overflight, the AST representative observed significant quantities of oil, but widely scattered and mostly sheen with scattered 100 yard by 50 yard patches of mousse. The closest mousse patch was 18 miles offshore while the majority of mousse was 60-70 miles offshore. The French government used a side looking airborne radar (SLAR) and infrared (IR) sensor equipped Cessna aircraft on daily overflights. They did not observe oil within 20 miles of the coast. Oil was reported on a 1 kilometer stretch of shoreline south of Casablanca. An estimated 75 per cent of the spilled oil evaporated, was dissipated by wave action, or was dispersed into the water column. Countermeasures and Mitigation Approximately 600 meters of inflatable boom was placed across the lagoon at Oualidia to protect oysters from the oil. Some of the floating oil was vacuumed into oil separators. Oil on the shoreline south of Casablanca was cleaned using rakes, shovels, and plastic bags provided by ITOPF. Approximately 6,600 gallons of dispersal agents were applied to the floating oil in the first week of January. Over 1,500 gallons of Finasol OSR-2, made from hydrocarbon-based solvents, were applied in two passes by six aircraft with spraying equipment. A tugboat dispatched from Spain applied approximately 5,000 gallons of A-3 dispersant closer to shore. These chemical dispersants were relatively ineffective, as they were applied after the oil had weathered. On January 8, the AST representative recommended that overflights be reduced to one every other day as long as the winds remained from the northeast. Other Special Interest Issues The Khark 5 may not have been structurally sound since it had been damaged three times in air strikes during the 8-year Iran-Iraq war. The seaworthiness of the Khark 5 was also questioned because it was underinsured. Morocco was ill-prepared to deal with the magnitude of this oil spill. News of the incident did not appear in the international press until 11 days after the initial explosion and fire. Much time was lost prior to any response while the Iranian owners and the Dutch salvage company were involved in financial disputes. References This content has been excerped from: Oil Spill Case Histories 1967-1991: Summaries of Significant U.S. and International Spills |
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