Eleni V; Norfolk, southeast coast of England

Norfolk, southeast coast of England | 1978-May-06

Initial Notification: On the morning of May 6, 1978, the Greek tanker Eleni V was cut in two by the French vessel Roseline in foggy conditions off the southeast coast of England. The Eleni V was loaded with 117,280 barrels of Heavy Fuel Oil. The collision caused the release of approximately 52,500 barrels of oil. The aft section was towed to Rotterdam by five Dutch tugs. The cargo remaining in the aft section was recovered by pumping it into storage tanks at Europort. The forward section of the vessel drifted away from the collision site. It went aground on May 8 on a sandbank near Lowestoft off the East Anglian coast with approximately 8000 barrels still on board. Attempts to salvage the forward part failed, and authorities decided to blow it up. The bow was towed to a position several miles offshore and blown up with two tons of explosives by Navy divers on May 30. Following the explosion, a large part of the remaining oil burned. Keyword: BP 1100D, Dasic LTD, collision, explosion, fire, fingerprinting..