The 2009 Lüderitz oil spill began in April 2009 off the coast of

Lüderitz Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. The town is known for its colonial architecture, includi ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. The oil spill directly affected 171

African penguin 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 stiff ...

s, with many more possibly threatened. The oil spill is in the area where the fishing trawler '' Meob Bay'' sank in June 2002, killing 19 seamen. The boat sank after a rope got caught in the propeller, which then detached causing water to flood into the engine room. However, an inspection of the site where the vessel had sunk showed that the wreck was not the source of the oil; the source of the spill could not be found but is thought to be bunker oil that was released by a large vessel passing through Namibian waters. In terms of wildlife affected, it was the largest spill in Namibian history according to local residents of Lüderitz.Oil spill hits Lüderitz
The Namibian, 21 April 2009

References

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Oil Spill at Coast of Namibia causes Ecological Disaster
Oil spills in Africa Luderitz Oil Spill, 2009 Lüderitz 2009 industrial disasters Man-made disasters in Namibia 2009 in the environment Maritime incidents in 2009 Shipwrecks of Namibia Luderitz {{Environmental-disaster-stub