''Blue Magpie'' was a 105-metre Japanese freighter owned by Jinyu Shipping Company. She was registered at Panama, and chartered to a Dutch corporation.
["Oil spill endangers rare birds"](_blank)
''The Montreal Gazette''. 22 November 1983. Retrieved 28 April 2012. In November 1983, she ran aground at
Newport, Oregon
Newport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. It was incorporated in 1882, though the name dates back to the establishment of a post office in 1868. Newport was named for Newport, Rhode Island. As of the 2010 census, the city had ...
, spilling 285,000 litres of crude oil into the coastal waters.
Incident
On 19 November 1983, ''Blue Magpie'' was en route to
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, to pick up lumber, after unloading a cargo of
Salvadoran coffee in
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
.
Caught up in a storm, the ship attempted to take shelter in
Yaquina Bay, but smashed into a coastal rock jetty and broke apart, causing a major oil spill. The vessel's nineteen South Korean crew members were unharmed, and were retrieved from the wreck by helicopter.
["Freighter breaks up; crew safe"](_blank)
''The Spokesman-Review''. 21 November 1983. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
It transpired from Coast Guard radio logs that the ship's captain, Kim Gap Bong, had been repeatedly warned of the danger of trying to enter the harbor. The captain, however, was insistent that he had to get out of the storm. ''Blue Magpies chief officer, Kang Tae Jung, later explained that their situation had been desperate. The ship had spent nine hours on a violent sea, and was in serious danger of capsizing.
["Coast Guard tackles oil spill off Oregon coast"](_blank)
''Tri City Herald''. 21 November 1983. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
Oil spill
An estimated 70,000 gallons (265,000 litres) of
Bunker C oil leaked from the wreckage, although most of it was swept out to sea by the wind.
["Watch kept on state beaches"](_blank)
''The Bulletin''. 28 November 1983. Retrieved 28 April 2012. The oil that did wash ashore, however, posed a significant threat to the local wildlife.
Brown pelicans and other coastal birds were found on the beaches covered in oil, and despite the best efforts of volunteers, over 250 birds did not survive their ordeal.
Other marine species, such as razor clams, were also thought to be in danger.
A
Coast Guard Strike Team, specially trained to manage oil spills, was flown in from California. A
containment boom was placed around the ship, and some of the oil was vacuumed off the beach.
The cost of the cleanup was at least $140,000, and oil continued to wash up for several weeks, up to 100 miles from the crash site.
A study into the long-term effect of the oil spill on bird numbers found that certain species, in particular the
American coot, had shown a significant decline. However, this could have been due to external factors, such as that year's occurrence of
El Niño, so the overall impact of the spill was deemed impossible to determine.
[Bayer, R.D. (1988)]
"Changes in Waterbird Numbers Before and After the 1983 Oil Spill at Yaquina Estuary, Oregon"
''Oregon Birds'' 14(2) pp. 157-161 (republished by Yaquina.info). Archived fro
on 28 April 2012.
References
{{coord missing, Oregon
Shipwrecks of the Oregon coast
Oil spills in the United States
Maritime incidents in 1983
1982 ships