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December 1999
French Atlantic Coast
Stormy winter weather contributed to one of 1999's worst oil spills---and Europe's worst oil spill in years---off France's Atlantic coast. On December 12, during strong winds and waves 3 m to 6 m high, the tanker Erika broke in two and sank in heavy weather about 80 km west of the coast of Brittany. The tanker carried 20,000 tons of heavy crude oil. A week later, at least half the oil was spread over the ocean surface, creating an oil slick 25 km long and 5 km wide. Oil soaked 400 km of beaches. The remaining oil was still contained in tanks in the sunken, broken ship. This spill was the largest in European waters since 1978, when the Amoco Cadiz released 220,000 tons of heavy crude along the same coast.
Seabird mortality was the most immediate consequence of the spill. Within a few days of the spill, nearly 60,000 oil-soaked birds were collected on French beaches, most of them already dead. Many times that number may have been killed by the oil. The birds included many species that winter in large flocks along the coast. Ecologists fear that some of the less common species, including loons (divers), may be reduced to dangerously low populations as a consequence of the spill.
TotalFina, the French oil corporation that owned the tanker, pledged to provide 40 million francs to help with cleanup. However, high waves and strong winds made cleanup difficult for weeks after the spill.
The cause of the spill was probably rust and corrosion on the ship's structure, which had been noted during recent inspections. The Erika is Italian-owned and registered in Malta. TotalFina owned the oil, which was bound for northern Italy. The Indian crew members were rescued before the ship sank.
Worldwide, scores of oil spills occur every year. Most happen along coastal shipping lanes, where traffic is heavy and underwater obstacles can cause grounding. Four thousand oil tankers and 40,000 other cargo ships use this heavily traveled shipping lane each year.
To learn more, see these related websites:
Intertanko: tanker owners association home page
World Resources Institute report on oil production
New Carissa spill report on this site
To read more, see:
Environmental Science, A Global Concern, Cunningham and Saigo, 6th ed.
Oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, p. 216
Oil pollution in oceans, p. 462
Oil reserves, pp. 481-82
Environmental Science, A Study of Interrelationships, Enger and Smith, 7th ed.
Marine ecosystems, pp. 83-85
Oil use and extraction, pp. 147-48
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