Pacific Glory; Isle of Wight, England

Isle of Wight, England | 1970-Oct-23

Initial Notification: On the evening of October 23, 1970, the tanker Pacific Glory and the tanker Allegro collided six miles off the Isle of Wight, England. The Pacific Glory caught fire, and was taken under tow as firefighting tugs tried to control the fire. Explosions ruptured a starboard tank, and led to the flooding of the engine space. The next day, the tanker began to settle and eventually touched bottom at a point four miles from the shore. The Allegro continued on from the collision site under her own power. The initial leak stopped soon after the collision, but as explosions occurred on the Pacific Glory additional leaks started from a starboard tank. The tank contained 35,400 barrels of Nigerian crude oil. Some of the oil burned, but approximately 24,780 barrels of oil spilled from the tank, forming three slicks. Very little oil came ashore, but some oil impacted Brighton and Selsey.