The M/T Haven Tanker Oil Spill occurred Thursday April 11, 1991 in Genoa, Italy. 143,000 barrels of oil were spilled of off the
Amoco Milford Haven
before it sank. Five crew members were killed in the explosion.
The Damage/Threats of the Spill
As soon as news of the oil spill got out, authorities, workers, and volunteers were quick to help clean up the mess. Fortunately, most of the oil that had spilled was either sucked up by vacuums or burned by Italian authorities. The other oil that wasn't so easily cleaned up, sank into the ground and continued to pollute the shore for 12 years. Part of the ship itself sank on the 14th of April. The shipwreck is now a popular tourist attraction for deep sea divers.
Although most of the oil from this spill was cleared away and most, if not all, the population was restored, other oil spills still occur. Some consequences that might occur if no protective action is taken to clean up ANY oil spill are:
The oil can spread causing more environmental damage to other areas
Species other than birds and fish could be affected including seals and other sea mammals
Oil could settle onto beaches and shores making it much more difficult to clean up
Endangered species could be harmed putting that population further into trouble
Some actions that could be taken to prevent the consequences of any oil spill are:
To prevent the consequences, steps could be taken to prevent the oil spill itself like to have MANY specific stations to thoroughly check every aspect of the ship before it is put into the water
To stop the oil from reaching the shore, very large barriers could be set up between the spill and the shore to keep the oil from reaching the beaches
Scientists could come up with a substance that causes the oil to clump together in one concentrated area so the oil could be easily contained, controlled, and cleaned up
One thing that the seventh grade students from Freedom Middle School could do to help out with any oil spill would be to have a community bake sale to help raise money towards the clean up.
M/T Haven Tanker Oil Spill
When and Where
100 birds were oiled
1-2 inches of oil settled into fine sand beaches and up to 1 foot of oil settled into coarse sand beaches
There was an estimated 43% reduction in the fish population in some fishing areas
Authorities believed that the oil spill was linked to the fact that the ship had been scrapped after being hit by the Exocet missile during the Iran-Iraq War and that it shouldn't have been put back into operation. So in other words, this could have been prevented if the ship hadn't been put back into operation after the damage from the missile.