tanker · named in official warnings

TANKER Floated Free

1 message · 1978-10-12

status
no warning in force
first mention
1978-10-12 00:00Z
latest mention
1978-10-12 00:00Z
reported as
Spills1
sea
Celtic Sea
last position
51.717, -5.667

Messages · 1, oldest first

One mention so far. The message has its own page: NOAAORR-6246. This page grows when the name is issued again.

  1. 1
    Spills·NOAAORR-62461978-10-12 00:00Z → cancelled 1978-10-26 00:00Z
    Irish sea, south wales
    Christos Bitas; Irish Sea, South Wales · Celtic Sea
    Christos Bitas; Irish Sea, South Wales.
    Irish Sea, South Wales.
    1. At 1634 on October 12, 1978, the Christos Bitas ran aground on rocks approximately 10 miles off Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales. After about half of its tanks ruptured, the tanker floated free of the rocks. The master of the vessel requested assistance from Her Majesty's Coast Guard in controlling the spilled oil, and the Christos Bitas continued for Belfast, its planned destination. The tanker was stopped at 52 25 N, 005 40 W at the request of British Petroleum Tanker Company, the owner of the cargo, and H. M. Coast Guard. The tanker was carrying 257,250 barrels of heavy Iranian crude oil. Approximately 21,990 barrels spilled into the Irish Sea. Nearly all the cargo was offloaded to other vessels, and the Christos Bitas was scuttled in the North Atlantic on October 31, 1978. Oil impacted some beaches in South Wales, as well as on Skomer Island, and the North Devon coast. [...]
    2. COMMODITY: HEAVY IRANIAN CRUDE OIL. MAXIMUM POTENTIAL RELEASE: 924000 GALLONS.
    3. POSITION 51.717N 005.667W. NOAA INCIDENTNEWS 6246: https://incidentnews.noaa.gov/incident/6246

Not for navigation. The name is read automatically from official navigational warnings; a common name can belong to more than one ship, and a message may describe work the vessel is doing (cable, survey) rather than something that happened to it. Mariners must use official NAVAREA broadcasts and their national MSI service.

TANKER Floated Free — navigational warnings · seahazards