On the way from the Persian Gulf to Beaumont , Texas , with 287,000 tons of crude oil for Mobil Oil on board, the ship collided with the tanker Aegean Captain in a storm off Tobago in the Caribbean on July 19, 1979 . The fire broke out. The tugs Swartezee , Smit Enterprise , Atlantic and Baltic arrived but could not put out the fire. The ship was towed about 200 nautical miles. When the wrecked ship was being towed, an amount of oil was steadily released that burned. After four days of uncontrolled fire, an explosion occurred and another the next day. Another explosion followed on July 29, 1979. On August 2, 1979, the ship sank.
