Notable Shipwrecks

Notable Shipwrecks

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Costa Concordia

January 14 2012 – The 291 meter long, 10000 dwt passenger ship Costa Concordia went aground off the island of Giglio, Italy. The cruise ship, loaded with more than 4,234 passengers and crew, struck a rock on the seafloor tearing a 160 foot gash along the port hull. Vessel capsized over on it’s side resulting in 32 deaths.

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Rena

October 4 2011 – The 236 meter long, 47230 dwt container ship Rena went aground on the Astrolabe Reef north of Motiti Island near the Tauranga Harbor, New Zealand. The Rena broke up on the reef spilling containers and fuel oil onto the nearby beaches before the vessel. Svitzer Salvage engaged and removing the bow section off the reef for the following 3 years.

MSC Chitra

August 7 2010 – The 234 meter long, 38485 dwt container ship MSC Chitra collided with the bulk carrier Khalijia III just outside Mumbai harbor, India. The MSC Chitra’s port hull was ripped open and the vessel listed over spilling containers and fuel oil into the sea. The vessel sustained too much damage and was later towed into international waters and sunk.

Ice Prince

January 13 2008 – The 132 meter long, 6467 gt general cargo ship Ice Prince encountered bad weather in the English Channel while en route from Sweden bound for Alexandria, Egypt with some 5,260 ton cargo of timber.

Pasha Bulker

June 8 2007 – The 225 meter long, 76781 dwt bulk carrier Pasha Bulker ran aground along the coast of Newcastle, Australia.

Tasman Spirit

July 27, 2003 – The 237 meter long, 87,584 dwt oil tanker Tasman Spirit ran aground near Karachi, Pakistan. The Tasman Spirit was en route to Karachi with 67,535 tons of light crude oil for delivery to the Pakistan Refinery Limited in Karachi.

Iron Baron

July 30 1995 – The 188 meter long, 37,557 dwt bulk carrier Iron Baron sank some 85 kilometers east of Flinders Island. It was the end of three weeks of series of mistakes that resulted in the loss of one vessel and one of the worst environmental disasters off Tasmania.

Braer

January 5 1993 – The 241 meter long, 87,730 dwt oil tanker Braer ran aground at Garths Ness, Shetland Islands, Scotland. The grounding and loss of the tanker would result in one of the largest oil spills in history.

Photo: Greenpeace

VLCC Haven

April 11 1991 – The 334 meter long, 232,162 dwt VLCC tanker Haven suffered an explosion, caught fire and sank off the coast of Genoa, Italy. The Haven not only became one of the largest shipwrecks in the world, but also one of the worst oil pollution incident in the Mediterranean Sea.

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Herald of Free Enterprise

March 6 1987 – The 132 meter long, ro-ro passenger ferry Herald of Free Enterprise capsized and sank just a short distance off the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium. Some 193 persons perished as many of the 459 passengers and 80 crew were trapped inside as the vessel sank in shallow water on its port side.

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Derbyshire

September 10 1980 – The 294 meter long, 169,044 dwt bulk carrier Derbyshire foundered with all hands during Typhoon Orchid some 230 miles off Okinawa, Japan.

Amoco Cadiz, Oil Spill, Shipwreck, France, Brittany

Amoco Cadiz

March 16 1978 – The 334 meter long, VLCC Amoco Cadiz ran aground and broke-up on Portsall Rocks some 5 kilometers off the coast of Brittany, France. The tanker had lost steering and was blown onto the rocks ripping the tanker open releasing some 1.6 million barrels of light crude into the sea.