Luftaufnahmen Nordseekueste 2012-05-by-RaBoe-104

M/V Pallas, callsign C6LO9,

IMO number The IMO number of the International Maritime Organization is a generic term covering two distinct meanings. The IMO ship identification number, is a type of hull number used as a unique ship identifier, and the IMO company and registered owner ...

7039206, was a 147 m

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

built in 1971. On 25 October 1998 its cargo of lumber caught fire while traveling the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

off the west coast of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. The ship ran aground on October 29 off the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

island of

Amrum Amrum (; Öömrang, ''Öömrang'' North Frisian: ''Oomram'') is one of the North Frisian Islands on the Germany, German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-H ...

, in the

Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park The Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park (german: Nationalpark Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer) is a national park in the Schleswig-Holstein area of the German Wadden Sea. It was founded by the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein on 1 O ...

. 200-300 tons of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

were lost overboard and caused Germany's most notable maritime environmental disaster. Parts of the wreck still lie off the island of Amrum and are visible at low tide.

Fire and sinking

At the time of the sinking, the ship was owned by the Italian company ''Bogazzi Servizi Naval'' and running under the flag of

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. On October 20, 1998 the "Pallas" started in the Swedish port of Hudiksvall north of Stockholm. It is to bring 2,500 tons of sawn timber from Sweden to Morocco. The captain first tried to smother the fire. He doesn't succeed. The situation spiraled out of control just before midnight. At 11:54 p.m., the ship broadcasts "Mayday". A Danish and a German rescue helicopter make their way to the blazing freighter. The fire could not be contained and the crew was evacuated; one crew member died in the process. Several attempts to get the ship under tow were unsuccessful, and it ran aground on October 29 off the

island of

, in the

. The smoldering fire in the cargo could only be fully extinguished a month after it broke out. Parts of the wreck of the Pallas still lie off Amrum and are visible at low tide.

Environmental disaster

200-300 tons of

were lost overboard, killing approximately 16.000 sea birds, predominantly

common eider The common eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria mollissima''), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large ( in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It bree ...

s. Only parts of the wreck could be salvaged to date, and the hull is still visible off Amrum.

Political consequences

The case led to political discontent over a lack of coordinated emergency tow capabilities on the German coast, and contributed to the establishment of the '' Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (German: ''Havariekommando'')''. The Minister for Environment of Schleswig-Holstein Rainder Steenblock (

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

) was criticized many times for his refusal to take responsibility. Steenblock only traveled to the disaster site under pressure from Prime Minister

Heide Simonis Heide Simonis (; born 4 July 1943 in Bonn as Heide Steinhardt) is a German Author and Politician. She is a member of the SPD. From 1993 to 2005 she served as the Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein. She was the first woman to serve as head ...

(SPD). Not only the Greens-friendly environmental protection associations

NABU Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom. Etymology and meaning The Akkadian "nab� ...

and BUND suggested that he resignin the month after the incident, also the MP Adelheid Winking-Nikolay from his own parliamentary group,

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

wrote in 1999.

Links

Lars Clausen Lars Michael Clausen (8 April 1935, Berlin – 20 May 2010, Hamburg) was a German sociologist and professor at the University of Kiel. Life and work During World War II, the family lived on the Darß (in Pomerania). 1944 his father Jürgen Cla ...

: ''Schwachstellenanalyse aus Anlass der Havarie der PALLAS.'' Bundesverwaltungsamt – Zentralstelle für Zivilschutz, Bonn 2003,
Abschlussbericht des Untersuchungsausschusses ''Pallas'' des Landtags Schleswig-Holstein auf Landtags-Drucksache 14/2650 vom 18. Januar 2000 (pdf; 28,8 MB)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pallas category:Shipwrecks in the North Sea category:Environmental disasters in Europe