Post by Administrator on Feb 15, 2022 10:42:00 GMT
VIA: The History of Wales
On 15th February 1996 the Sea Empress ran aground at the entrance to Milford Haven harbour.
The grounding of the Sea Empress resulted in one of the largest and most environmentally damaging oil spills in European history. Approximately 72,000 tonnes of crude oil escaped into the sea, with more than 100km of coastline becoming seriously polluted.
Thousands of birds were killed as a result and shore seaweeds and invertebrates were also killed in large quantities.
The fact that the spill occurred, in February, when many migratory animals had not yet arrived back in Pembrokeshire for breeding and the stormy weather which would have dispersed the oil was not as bad as initially predicted, meant that by the spring of 1997, there was very little evidence of the oiling and by 2001 the affected marine wildlife population levels had more-or-less returned to normal.
The Sea Empress was repaired and renamed 5 times. In 2012, it ran aground and sank on its way to be scrapped in Bangladesh.
On 15th February 1996 the Sea Empress ran aground at the entrance to Milford Haven harbour.
The grounding of the Sea Empress resulted in one of the largest and most environmentally damaging oil spills in European history. Approximately 72,000 tonnes of crude oil escaped into the sea, with more than 100km of coastline becoming seriously polluted.
Thousands of birds were killed as a result and shore seaweeds and invertebrates were also killed in large quantities.
The fact that the spill occurred, in February, when many migratory animals had not yet arrived back in Pembrokeshire for breeding and the stormy weather which would have dispersed the oil was not as bad as initially predicted, meant that by the spring of 1997, there was very little evidence of the oiling and by 2001 the affected marine wildlife population levels had more-or-less returned to normal.
The Sea Empress was repaired and renamed 5 times. In 2012, it ran aground and sank on its way to be scrapped in Bangladesh.