Sines Coast threatened by Oil Tanker

Giulietta · #1 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

This probably touches Val and Tommyt and me more than any here at sailnet.

The French flag Super tanker "New Vision", carrying 200.000 Tons of crude has reported damages in its hull today. It was hit by 56 foot waves off the coast of Sines, where I filmed one of my videos in October, with some high winds and waves, that Tom and Val missed (sorry).

It is now "kept" by the Navy in the 20 to 40 Mile marker, off the coast of Sines, (for those that read my travels in Portugal know where it is and how nice it is), while several attempts are being made at repairing it. The Country has already initiatted a fuel transfer program if the repairs are not successfull. So we are all awaiting the unroll of events in the next days. The whole Country stopped waiting to see.

The ship is incapacitatated and if the weather worsens it may break, casting a dark horrible shadow over the coast of this pristine area.

We are all praying all goes good and they can repair the vessel. I hope so, the area is so beautifull and full of wild life. If they can repair some they may bring it in to tranfer the fuel in the harbour of Sines. risky.

For those that don't know, read some of the threads I and Tom and Val posted.

Here are a few photos of Sines

HEre Val not far from where the tanker is now

This is the look of the water there

Idiens · #2 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

Last time it was off the Spanish coast and the stupid politicians kept the tanker away from shore and in the bad weather. Result - eco-disaster.

There is a thing called "port of refuge", and really the tanker should be brought in the closest one quickly and the leak contained within the harbour, where it's relatively easy to deal with and less area affected and needing to be cleaned up afterwards.

Giulietta · #3 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

The problem is Christmas holidays are coming and that is why they keep it closer to Sines, so they can (more or less) control it should it happen.

By the way, last time it was not Spain, it was Spain, Galicia and Portugal, we still get black waves from that boat, as it is still leaking today as we speak.

Sines is a Port of Refuge, but if the boat can't keep heading, they wont let him in

Idiens · #4 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giulietta

By the way, last time it was not Spain, it was Spain, Galicia and Portugal, we still get black waves from that boat, as it is still leaking today as we speak.

Exactly, but I think it was the Spanish Min. of T. who decided to keep it offshore and hence caused the spread and the difficulty in doing anything about the deep water leak.

Sines has a pumping station, doesn't it?

sailingdog · #5 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

UGH... Good luck... major oil spills are never a good thing.

Giulietta · #6 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

Yes. Sines has one, but the problem is the holidays, altough the workres already said they wotld come to work.

Sines is so nice so pretty, the beaches are pristine, clean, warm so nice...

I hope it never happens really. The weather will get better starting tomorrow, the waves dropped to 8 to 12 feet, and the wind died to 17 knots. so everything is calm now

sailaway21 · #7 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

What's the controlling depth of the port of refuge?
A 200,000 ton tanker is likely to be drawing anywhere from 50-75 feet in draft. The most likely problem is structural and she'll not be repairable at sea. The next problem is finding handy-size tankers in the area to come along side and lighter the cargo. Then there is the problem of finding shore-side capacity for those tankers to discharge and return to lightering.

Towing the vessel inshore, with out the possiblity of harbor refuge, may do more to ensure ecological disaster than anything else. In fact, depending on cargo, it may make more sense to take her offshore as far as possible and scuttle her. I'd be inclined to favor a splitting of the differences by towing her further offshore until literage is available. All considerations will be highly weather dependant.

Idiens · #8 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

I think it depends.

But generally, its a lot easier to get an effective boom around a tanker in a harbour or bay than it is in the open sea. Letting the vessel sink at sea just guarantees that the mess is going to involve all the oil, not just some of it.

Valiente · #9 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

This would be a major disaster.

While Portugal is the first seas I've sailed in, I've travelled on ferries, etc. around France and the British Isles and Ireland, and those seas aren't exactly pristine. You frequently see evidence of spills and garbage in the water. Admittedly, this could be due to the semi-enclosed nature of the Irish Sea and the Channel, or due to the collating effects of the tides and currents, but it's not pretty.

But in Portugal, once you get away from the outflow of the Tagus (which isn't bad, but it's not pristine...), the waters offshore from the Atlantic coast of Portugal are really clean. I don't know if this is because it's pretty sparsely populated (being pretty rugged with lots of cliffs), or because Portugal isn't heavily industrialized like Britain, but I can't say I saw any garbage or slicks in the water between Sines and Cape St. Vincent.

Just a large number of fishing net floats.

OPTIMANIA · #10 (**permalink**) 12-22-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giulietta

This probably touches Val and Tommyt and me more than any here at sailnet.

The French flag Super tanker "New Vision", carrying 200.000 Tons of crude has reported damages in its hull today. It was hit by 56 foot waves off the coast of Sines, where I filmed one of my videos in October, with some high winds and waves, that Tom and Val missed (sorry).

It is now "kept" by the Navy in the 20 to 40 Mile marker, off the coast of Sines, (for those that read my travels in Portugal know where it is and how nice it is), while several attempts are being made at repairing it. The Country has already initiatted a fuel transfer program if the repairs are not successfull. So we are all awaiting the unroll of events in the next days. The whole Country stopped waiting to see.

The ship is incapacitatated and if the weather worsens it may break, casting a dark horrible shadow over the coast of this pristine area.

We are all praying all goes good and they can repair the vessel. I hope so, the area is so beautifull and full of wild life. If they can repair some they may bring it in to tranfer the fuel in the harbour of Sines. risky.

For those that don't know, read some of the threads I and Tom and Val posted.

Here are a few photos of Sines

HEre Val not far from where the tanker is now

This is the look of the water there

PAI eu estou nessa foto