The SS Wafra oil spill occurred on 27 February 1971, when SS Wafra, an oil tanker, ran aground while under tow near Cape Agulhas, South Africa. Approximately 200,000 barrels of crude oil were leaked into the ocean.[4][5] The larger part of the ship was refloated, towed out to sea, and then sunk by the South African Air Force to prevent further oil contamination of the coastline.
The ship was rounding the southern tip of Africa at 6:30 am on 27 February 1971 when the piping that brought seawater on board to cool her steam turbine failed. The engine room flooded, incapacitating the ship. She was taken under tow the following day by the Russian[clarification needed] steam tanker Gdynia, which – finding the task too difficult – handed the tow over to Pongola 7 miles (11 km) off Cape Agulhas, later the same day.[3] The tow cable subsequently broke, and Wafra grounded on a reef near Cape Agulhas at 5:30 pm on 28 February. All six of the port cargo tanks, as well as two of the six center tanks, were ruptured, resulting in approximately 26,000 tonnes of oil leaking at the grounding site, of which 6,000 tonnes washed up at Cape Agulhas.[11] Another source estimated that nearly 14 million gallons of oil was lost in the event (approx 45500 tonnes).[12]
A 20-mile (32 km) by 3-mile (4.8 km) oil spill resulted,[9][13] which affected a colony of 1200 African penguins on Dyer Island near Gansbaai.[14] Beaches from Gansbaai to Cape Agulhas were oiled by the slick. American newspapers reported that the slick was up to 35 miles (56 km) long.[15][16] Almost 4,000 US gallons (15,000 L) of detergent was sprayed onto the slick in efforts to prevent it washing ashore or harming marine life.[17][18]
The ship was refloated and pulled off the reef on 8 March by the German tug Oceanic, but started to break apart. To prevent further oil contamination of the coastline, the larger section was towed 200 miles (320 km) out to sea to the edge of the continental shelf (36°57′S20°42′E / 36.950°S 20.700°E / -36.950; 20.700), leaving a 160-kilometre (99 mi) oil slick in her wake. On 10 March 1971, Buccaneer aircraft of the South African Air Force attempted to sink her with AS-30L missiles, but succeeded only in starting a fire. The ship burned for two days before a Shackleton aircraft was eventually able to sink it with depth charges in 1,830 metres (6,000 ft) of water.
If Wafra had been a twin screw, two engine room ship, loss of an engine would most likely not have caused the loss of the whole ship.[13] At the time, the oil spill was in the top twenty most disastrous tanker spills on record.[13]
Aftermathedit
In the wake of the accident, the South African Department of Transport realised that despite many Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) using the Cape sea route each year, the authorities did not have ocean-going tugs that were able to assist them in distress, and to protect sensitive marine areas by breaking up oil spills with chemical dispersants.[19] They therefore set up an oil spill prevention service known as Kuswag (Coastwatch) and commissioned two new salvage tugs, John Ross and Wolraad Woltemade.[20] The two tugs, with their 26,200 horsepower (19,500 kW) engines, held the record as the world's largest salvage tugs.[21]
The incident is featured in the 1975 book Supership by Noel Mostert.[22]
^ ab 商船建造の步み. Mitsubishi Zōsen Kabushiki Kaisha. 1959. p. 124.
^"South African Shipping News and Fishing Industry Review". 26 (1). Thomson Newspapers. 1971. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ ab. Center for Tankship Excellence. Archived from the original on 15 December 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
^"Wafra" 17 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Incident News. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
^"Cape Agulhas, South Africa: Incident Summary" 10 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Incident News. 27 February 1971. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
^United States Court of Claims (1980). Federal Supplement. 477. West Pub. Co. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^Day, John H.; Cook, F.; Zoutendyk, P.; Simons, R (1971). "The effect of oil pollution from the tanker "Wafra" on the marine fauna of the Cape Agulhas". Zoologica Africana. 6: 209–219. doi:10.1080/00445096.1971.11447414.
^American Maritime Cases. 3. Maritime Law Association of the United States. 1980. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ ab"Oil Spill Case Histories" (PDF). Washington: NOAA. 29 May 1997.
^Texaco Export, Inc., and Chevron Oil Sales Co. (Plaintiffs-Appellants) vs Overseas Tankship Corp. (Defendant) and Getty Tankers Ltd. (Defendant-Appellee) United Steamship Corp. (Defendant-Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellee) vs Getty Oil Co. (Third-Party Defendant-Appellant), Nos. 308, 438, Dockets 77-7358, 77-7382 (United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit 2 March 1978).
^Cornell, James; Surowiecki, John (1968). The Pulse of the Planet: A State of the Earth Report from the Smithsonian Institution Center for Short-lived Phenomena. Harmony Books. ISBN0-517-50065-5.
^"Wafra oil spill, South Africa (1971)". Miami Herald. 21 July 1979. p. 11. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ abcDevanney, Jack (2006). The Tankship Tromedy: The Impending Disasters in Tankers(PDF). Tavernier, Florida. p. 110. ISBN978-0-977-64790-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Hofer, Tobias N. (2008). Marine Pollution: New Research. Nova Publishers. p. 343. ISBN9781604562422.
^"Major Oil Spill Fouls South Africa Shores (Wafra, 1971)". The Daily Journal. 2 March 1971. p. 1. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^"African Oil Spill - 35-Mile Slick Reported (Wafra, 1971)". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. 2 March 1971. p. 22. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^"Tanker Tough to Destroy (Wafra oil spill, 1971)". The Kansas City Times. 3 March 1971. p. 72. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^"Oil spill fought off South Africa (1971)". Spokane Chronicle. 2 March 1971. p. 2. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^South African Digest. South Africa Dept of Information. 1986.
^Hutson, Terry (31 January 2004). "Historical Review of SA Oil Pollution Service". Ports and Ships.
^Rosenthal, Eric (1982). Total Book of South African Records. Delta Books. p. 71. ISBN0-908387-19-9.
^"Supertankers threaten seas (Book review of Supership by Noel Mostert, 1975)". Denton Record-Chronicle. 23 March 1975. p. 12. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
Further readingedit
Venter, Al J. (1973). Under the Indian Ocean. Nautical Pub. Co.
wafra, spill, occurred, february, 1971, when, wafra, tanker, aground, while, under, near, cape, agulhas, south, africa, approximately, barrels, crude, were, leaked, into, ocean, larger, part, ship, refloated, towed, then, sunk, south, african, force, prevent, . The SS Wafra oil spill occurred on 27 February 1971 when SS Wafra an oil tanker ran aground while under tow near Cape Agulhas South Africa Approximately 200 000 barrels of crude oil were leaked into the ocean 4 5 The larger part of the ship was refloated towed out to sea and then sunk by the South African Air Force to prevent further oil contamination of the coastline History NameSS Wafra NamesakeWafra OwnerGetty Tankers OperatorOverseas Tankship Corp Port of registryLiberia BuilderNagasaki Works Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Launched7 August 1955 1 Completed1956 Identification1456 FateSunk by South African Air Force on 12 March 1971 to contain an oil spill General characteristics Class and typeOil tanker Tonnage27 400 GRT increased to 36 697 GRT or 68 600 DWT in August 1970 2 3 Installed power17 600 shaft horsepower 13 100 kW 1 PropulsionSteam turbine Contents 1 Grounding and sinking 2 Aftermath 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksGrounding and sinking edit nbsp nbsp Grounding nbsp Cape Agulhasclass notpageimage Western Cape South Africa Wafra left Ras Tanura in Saudi Arabia on 12 February 1971 bound for Cape Town South Africa with a cargo of 472 513 barrels 75 123 6 m3 6 63 174 tonnes 7 of Arabian crude oil on board 8 9 Half the cargo was owned by Chevron Oil Sales Co and the other half by Texaco Export Inc 10 The ship was rounding the southern tip of Africa at 6 30 am on 27 February 1971 when the piping that brought seawater on board to cool her steam turbine failed The engine room flooded incapacitating the ship She was taken under tow the following day by the Russian clarification needed steam tanker Gdynia which finding the task too difficult handed the tow over to Pongola 7 miles 11 km off Cape Agulhas later the same day 3 The tow cable subsequently broke and Wafra grounded on a reef near Cape Agulhas at 5 30 pm on 28 February All six of the port cargo tanks as well as two of the six center tanks were ruptured resulting in approximately 26 000 tonnes of oil leaking at the grounding site of which 6 000 tonnes washed up at Cape Agulhas 11 Another source estimated that nearly 14 million gallons of oil was lost in the event approx 45500 tonnes 12 A 20 mile 32 km by 3 mile 4 8 km oil spill resulted 9 13 which affected a colony of 1200 African penguins on Dyer Island near Gansbaai 14 Beaches from Gansbaai to Cape Agulhas were oiled by the slick American newspapers reported that the slick was up to 35 miles 56 km long 15 16 Almost 4 000 US gallons 15 000 L of detergent was sprayed onto the slick in efforts to prevent it washing ashore or harming marine life 17 18 The ship was refloated and pulled off the reef on 8 March by the German tug Oceanic but started to break apart To prevent further oil contamination of the coastline the larger section was towed 200 miles 320 km out to sea to the edge of the continental shelf 36 57 S 20 42 E 36 950 S 20 700 E 36 950 20 700 leaving a 160 kilometre 99 mi oil slick in her wake On 10 March 1971 Buccaneer aircraft of the South African Air Force attempted to sink her with AS 30L missiles but succeeded only in starting a fire The ship burned for two days before a Shackleton aircraft was eventually able to sink it with depth charges in 1 830 metres 6 000 ft of water If Wafra had been a twin screw two engine room ship loss of an engine would most likely not have caused the loss of the whole ship 13 At the time the oil spill was in the top twenty most disastrous tanker spills on record 13 Aftermath editIn the wake of the accident the South African Department of Transport realised that despite many Very Large Crude Carriers VLCCs using the Cape sea route each year the authorities did not have ocean going tugs that were able to assist them in distress and to protect sensitive marine areas by breaking up oil spills with chemical dispersants 19 They therefore set up an oil spill prevention service known as Kuswag Coastwatch and commissioned two new salvage tugs John Ross and Wolraad Woltemade 20 The two tugs with their 26 200 horsepower 19 500 kW engines held the record as the world s largest salvage tugs 21 The incident is featured in the 1975 book Supership by Noel Mostert 22 See also editOswego Guardian Texanita collision Venpet Venoil collision Torrey Canyon oil spillReferences edit a b 商船建造の步み Mitsubishi Zōsen Kabushiki Kaisha 1959 p 124 South African Shipping News and Fishing Industry Review 26 1 Thomson Newspapers 1971 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help a b Casualty List Casualty ID 19710227 001 Center for Tankship Excellence Archived from the original on 15 December 2011 Retrieved 28 December 2011 Wafra Archived 17 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine Incident News Retrieved 23 December 2011 Cape Agulhas South Africa Incident Summary Archived 10 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine Incident News 27 February 1971 Retrieved 23 December 2011 United States Court of Claims 1980 Federal Supplement 477 West Pub Co a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Missing or empty title help Day John H Cook F Zoutendyk P Simons R 1971 The effect of oil pollution from the tanker Wafra on the marine fauna of the Cape Agulhas Zoologica Africana 6 209 219 doi 10 1080 00445096 1971 11447414 American Maritime Cases 3 Maritime Law Association of the United States 1980 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Missing or empty title help a b Oil Spill Case Histories PDF Washington NOAA 29 May 1997 Texaco Export Inc and Chevron Oil Sales Co Plaintiffs Appellants vs Overseas Tankship Corp Defendant and Getty Tankers Ltd Defendant Appellee United Steamship Corp Defendant Third Party Plaintiff Appellee vs Getty Oil Co Third Party Defendant Appellant Nos 308 438 Dockets 77 7358 77 7382 United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit 2 March 1978 Cornell James Surowiecki John 1968 The Pulse of the Planet A State of the Earth Report from the Smithsonian Institution Center for Short lived Phenomena Harmony Books ISBN 0 517 50065 5 Wafra oil spill South Africa 1971 Miami Herald 21 July 1979 p 11 Retrieved 9 May 2020 a b c Devanney Jack 2006 The Tankship Tromedy The Impending Disasters in Tankers PDF Tavernier Florida p 110 ISBN 978 0 977 64790 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Hofer Tobias N 2008 Marine Pollution New Research Nova Publishers p 343 ISBN 9781604562422 Major Oil Spill Fouls South Africa Shores Wafra 1971 The Daily Journal 2 March 1971 p 1 Retrieved 9 May 2020 African Oil Spill 35 Mile Slick Reported Wafra 1971 The Corpus Christi Caller Times 2 March 1971 p 22 Retrieved 9 May 2020 Tanker Tough to Destroy Wafra oil spill 1971 The Kansas City Times 3 March 1971 p 72 Retrieved 9 May 2020 Oil spill fought off South Africa 1971 Spokane Chronicle 2 March 1971 p 2 Retrieved 9 May 2020 South African Digest South Africa Dept of Information 1986 Hutson Terry 31 January 2004 Historical Review of SA Oil Pollution Service Ports and Ships Rosenthal Eric 1982 Total Book of South African Records Delta Books p 71 ISBN 0 908387 19 9 Supertankers threaten seas Book review of Supership by Noel Mostert 1975 Denton Record Chronicle 23 March 1975 p 12 Retrieved 9 May 2020 Further reading editVenter Al J 1973 Under the Indian Ocean Nautical Pub Co External links editPhotos of beach contamination Photos of ship on fire 35 0 S 20 2 E 35 000 S 20 033 E 35 000 20 033 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title SS Wafra oil spill amp oldid 1169785379, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
