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 THE Sea Empress, a Liberian flagged oil tanker, ran aground on rocks at the mouth of the Milford Haven waterway while carrying 130,824 tonnes of Forties crude from the North Sea to Texaco refinery on February 15th, 1996.
The vessel was a single-hulled tanker built just six years before the disaster.
After the grounding, the coastguard agency instigated a contingency plan involving numerous aircraft and safety vessels with the prime objectives of keeping the vessel afloat, containing the spill and saving as much of the cargo as possible.
Initially, weather conditions remained calm and the following morning, the 30,000dwt tanker Star Bergen, assisted by tugs from Liverpool and Dublin, attempted to begin the transfer of the cargo.
By February 17th, the weather conditions had worsened with winds gusting at up to 40 knots and the Milford Haven Port Authority and the Harbour Master took the decision to use seven tugs to turn the Sea Empress so that she faced into the wind and swell. However, two towlines snapped and the tanker again ground near its original location at 6.05pm.
The following day, at 5.30am, a RAF rescue helicopter air-lifted the experts and Russian crew of the stricken tanker due to the worsening storm – winds were now reaching Gale Force Eight and waves building up to five metres in height.
Later that same day, the tugs Anglican Earl, Anglican Duke and De Yue were able to refloat the vessel once more. Overnight, the Anglian Duke and the Anglian Earl held the tanker fast.
At noon on the 19th, the tanker again grounded near Channel Rock. Six tugs managed to pull her from the rocks but she grounded once more near Saint Ann’s Head.
By now, the Sea empress was holed in her starboard wing and centre tanks. She had continued to lose her cargo throughout the incident and of the vessel’s 24 tanks only three now remained undamaged. The Sea Empress’s engine room remained dry so she was still able to provide herself with some power but her pumping room was flooded.
High tide on February 20th was the highest of the months and nine tugs were used in an unsuccessful attempt to float the Sea Empress once more.
The following day saw two further attempts at refloating the tanker, one at 7.30am and another at 9pm using 12 tugs, including a number dispatched from Holland.
The Sea Empress was finally refloated at 10pm after inert gas was pumped into her wing tanks. The use of the gas caused further loss of the Sea Empress’s cargo bringing the total loss to 72, 000 tonnes.
She was finally towed to Herbrandston Jetty in the early hours of February 21st.
Cargo transfer began on February 23rd and continued until March 4th, ultimately saving 58,200 tonnes.
The Sea Empress was towed to Belfast for repairs on the 27th March.
She has since undergone at least two name changes and has never returned to Milford Haven.
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