Norwegian Ship Spills Crude Oil Near Bergen

BERGEN, Norway, January 22, 2004 (ENS) - Norwegian coastal emergency officials are working to contain a spill of heavy crude oil from a bulk carrier that has capsized near the city of Bergen.

The Rocknes bulk carrier, loaded with stones and headed to Germany, overturned in icy seas Monday night. Rescue teams have saved 12 of the 30 people aboard, but 18 crew members are confirmed dead, or missing and presumed dead.

Jebsen Ship Management of Bergen, which operated the vessel, says that among the missing is the Norwegian captain of the specially built carrier. Atle Jebsen said Tuesday that among the missing is "one of our most experienced captains," Jan Aksel Juvik, who has been part of the Jebsen Group since 1972.

Rescue crews have left the scene, and salvage and environmental crews have moved in, worried that the 446 metric tons of heavy bunker crude oil aboard the Rocknes might leak into the sea.

The capsized Rocknes may be leaking oil into the sea. (Photo by Gisle Mellum)

Jebsen said Wednesday that "an unknown quantity" of the heavy fuel oil has escaped. "There does not appear to be any evidence that any of the bunkers tanks have been breached," the company said.

The cleanup and pollution prevention operation at sea is organized by the Department for Emergency Response of the Norwegian Coastal Administration, Kystverket.

Coast guard crews are struggling to contain the fuel on board the vessel, in hopes of preventing a major spill. They will also lead any shore side clean up on land, assisted by the local municipalities affected. Fishing Minister Svein Ludvigsen is in Bergen to monitor pollution from the capsized vessel and its containment.

The Netherlands firm Smit Salvage has stabilized the Rocknes by pumping air into its ballast tanks, and the vessel is now floating higher in the water. Once stabilized in its present upside down state, Smit says the vessel can be towed to a sheltered area, where further salvage of the vessel can take place.

The Rocknes oil slick can be seen in this aerial photograph. (Photo courtesy Kystverket)

Neither Jebsen nor the vessel's insurer, Gard of Norway, has confirmed a cause for the accident. Several witnesses reportedly said they spotted holes in the vessel's hull, leading to speculation that it ran into a rocky outcropping and took on water shortly before it capsized.

Survivors also have said the vessel grounded before the accident. Others have said they heard stones crashing just before the vessel flipped, suggesting its cargo shifted and left the vessel out of balance.

The Norwegian ship's pilot was among the survivors and so will be able to give evidence at a formal investigation into the cause of the accident that will be held in Norway.

Several pilots who have handled the Rocknes in the past have expressed concerns about the heavy vessel's lack of maneuverability, but the ship's classification company Germanicher Lloyd said that the boat's construction met all rules and regulations.