The Sliedrecht oil spill occurred off the coast of

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named ...

, near

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

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 ...

n waters in late 1953. The Dutch

oil tanker 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 ...

''Sliedrecht'' was "holed" and lost a "huge amount" of oil. It sailed 60 miles offshore to pump out 1,000 tonnes of oil that had been fouled with sea water. Casualties of the oil spill included birds, penguins, fish and other marine life which washed ashore at Table Bay, where the slick also stained the beaches.

References

Oil spills in South Africa 1953 in South Africa 1953 disasters in South Africa {{SouthAfrica-hist-stub