The Sea Empress incident: Summary of report

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General Introduction

At its peak over 1100 people were involved in the clean-up of the oil spilled when the Sea Empress grounded at Milford Haven in February last year. A report by the Coastguard Agency's Marine Pollution Control Unit published on 9 January gives a detailed account of the clean-up operation.

The grounding of the Sea Empress released 72,000 tonnes of crude oil making this incident the third largest in UK coastal waters and among the 20 largest spills ever. Allowing for evaporation there was the potential for 43,000 tonnes of oil to come ashore. Thanks to aerial spraying of dispersants and recovery of some oil at sea only about 3-5,000 tonnes of oil reached the shoreline.

Although some 200 kilometres of shoreline were affected by oil the main tourist beaches were substantially clean and useable by Easter. Most of the other beaches and coves were cleared of conspicuous oil by the late summer holiday season.

The report sets out the scale of the clean-up operation. The Marine Pollution Control Unit activated its National Contingency Plan within an hour of the initial grounding. Large quantities of equipment were despatched to the scene overnight and a Joint Response Centre was set up with the local authorities. The report pays tribute to the work of the local authorities in cleaning the beaches, harbours and shoreline.

Chris Harris, the Agency's Chief Executive, said:

"The response to the Sea Empress oil spill meant activating our National Contingency Plan and bringing together a large and complex project within a few days. Over 1100 people and dozens of organisations were involved. The response was a most successful co-operation between central government, local authorities and the port authority".

This report is the MPCU's contribution to the overall assessment of the Sea Empress spill. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is investigating the causes of the accident and the conduct of the salvage operation. The Sea Empress Environmental Evaluation Committee (SEEEC) under Professor Ron Edwards is looking at the environmental consequences of the spill and the conduct of the clean-up operation.

The MPCU report does not deal with the matters being investigated by the MAIB, but it is hoped that it will make a contribution to the work of SEEEC.

Copies of the report may be obtained from the Coastguard Agency's Press Office price £29.00 (cheques payable to the Department of Transport).

Claire Johns
The Coastguard Agency
Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG

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