The ''Oswego-Guardian''–''Texanita'' collision was a maritime accident between two

supertankers An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...

near

Stilbaai Stilbaai, also known as the ''Bay of Sleeping Beauty'', is a town along the southern coast of South Africa about four hours by car from Cape Town. It is part of the Hessequa Local Municipality in the Western Cape province. Alternate spellings of t ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on 21 August 1972. The ''Texanita'' exploded and sank with the loss of 47 men, while a further life was lost on the ''Oswego Guardian''. The accident was a catalyst for change to marine traffic separation procedures as well as oil tanker inerting.

Accident

The ''Oswego-Guardian'' was rounding the southern tip of Africa, fully loaded with crude oil from the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, while the ''Texanita'' was in ballast, and headed in the opposite direction from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Ras Tanura Ras Tanura ( ar, رأس تنورة, Ra's Tannūrah, lit=cape oven, cape brazier, presumably due to the unusual heat prevalent at the cape that projects into the sea) is a city in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia located on a peninsula extend ...

. Both ships were approximately 100,000 tons deadweight and registered in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. The ships collided in dense fog off

, near

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian ...

. The oil vapours in the ''Texanitas two empty tanks ignited, creating a massive explosion that tore the ship apart, causing it to sink in four minutes with the loss of 47 of its 50 crew; the explosion was heard away, inland from the coast. On August 22, The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

reported that "not much" oil had leaked from the site of the incident and serious shore pollution was not expected. Captain Salvourdas (the master of the ''Texanita''), a crewman, Vasilos Tanos, and an unidentified Chinese messman from the Oswego Guardian were taken to a hospital in

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

. Roughly 10,000 tonnes of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

and

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 spilled, and an estimated 500

African penguins The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all extant penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffe ...

were oiled by the slick. A

United Nations resolution A United Nations resolution (UN resolution) is a formal text adopted by a United Nations (UN) body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly. Legal stat ...

that would have made the use of

inert gas An inert gas is a gas that does not readily undergo chemical reactions with other chemical substances and therefore does not readily form chemical compounds. The noble gases often do not react with many substances and were historically referred to ...

safety systems mandatory for oil tankers, was still in draft in 1972. Experts believe that were the ''Texanita'' inerted, her fate might have been less tragic, possibly like that of the ''Venoil''. The subsequent investigation determined that the masters of both ships failed to maintain an adequate lookout or to plot the course of the opposite ship; both ships also failed to reduce speed, despite observing one another on radar. At the time, the accident was the biggest tanker collision on record. One of the ''Texanitas lifeboats was found at

Bunbury, Western Australia Bunbury is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's third most populous city after Perth and Mandurah, with a population of approximately 75,000. Located at ...

two years later.

Aftermath

The accident contributed to an overhaul of the international maritime traffic separation system that was in force at the time.

References

External links

Oswego Guardian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oswego-Guardian Texanita collision Maritime incidents in 1972 Maritime incidents in South Africa 1972 in South Africa Oil spills in South Africa Environment of South Africa Ships sunk in collisions Shipwrecks of the South African Indian Ocean coast 1972 in the environment 1972 disasters in South Africa

Accident

Aftermath

See also

Further reading

References

External links