Athenian Venture

Athenian Venture

Ship data flag  Cyprus other ship names Karkonosze (1975-1983) Ship type Tanker home port Limassol Owner Patron Marine Co. Shipyard Oskarshamnsvarvet, Oskarshamn Build number 408 Whereabouts Sank after explosion in 1988

Ship dimensions and crew length 170.7 m ( Lüa ) width 25.9 m Draft Max. 11.0 m measurement 18 251 GRT

Machine system machine 1 × diesel engine Top speed 15.5 kn (29 km / h) propeller 1

Transport capacities Load capacity 31,016 dwt

Others Classifications Polski Rejestr Statków IMO no. 7389742

The Athenian Venture was an oil tanker operated under the flag of Cyprus . The ship was lost in the North Atlantic in April 1988 after an explosion on board . In the accident, all crew members as well as accompanying family members of the crew members died.

history

The ship was built in 1975 under the hull number 408 as one of three sister ships at the Oskarshamnsvarvet shipyard in Oskarshamn , Sweden . Built as a single-hull ship came as Karkonosze for the Polish shipping company Polskiej Zeglugi Morskiej going. The ship was propelled by a diesel engine that worked on a propeller . The ship reached a speed of around 15  knots .

In 1983, Polskiej Zeglugi Morskiej and the Greek shipping company Athenian Tankers founded Patron Marine Co., into which the tanker was incorporated. The new name of the ship, which is now operating under the flag of Cyprus, was Athenian Venture .

On the night of April 21-22, 1988, an explosion occurred on board. The ship was on a voyage from Amsterdam to New York with a cargo of around 10.5 million gallons of gasoline and at the time of the accident was about 400  nautical miles southeast of Cape Race on Newfoundland ( ⊙ ). In the accident, the hull was torn in two and went up in flames. The bow section of the ship sank on April 22, 1988 at around 2 p.m. local time. The stern section drifted for several weeks and finally sank on June 17, 1988 about 200 nautical miles off the Azores , after it had previously been towed and had already been towed about 1000 nautical miles towards the Spanish coast.

There were 29 people, 24 crew members and five wives of crew members on board. There were no survivors. Only the body of a sailor was found floating in the water after the accident. The remains of other sailors were later found on the floating stern section after the fire was extinguished.

The cause of the accident was never clarified. The ship is said to have been in poor condition.

Web links

• Photos of the burning stern

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} MV Athenian Venture , Wrecksite. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Czeslaw Romanowski: Wyjasnic tajemnice , Portal Morski, May 15, 2009. Accessed June 20, 2018.
3. ^ ^{A b} Athenian Venture , Incident News, NOAA . Retrieved June 20, 2018.
4. ^ A Greek-owned tanker was found split in two , UPI Archives, United Press International, April 22, 1988. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Michal Lipka: Morska tragedia polskiej zalogi "Athenian Venture" , Trójmiasto January 20, 2015. Accessed June 20, 2018.
6. ↑ Krystyna Pohl: Chcemy wiedziec, jak nasi ojcowie zgineli , GS24.pl, February 18, 2008. Accessed June 20, 2018.
7. ^ The Athenian Venture disaster , The Telegram, August 7, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2018.