The Braer was an oil tanker that ran aground and leaked off the Shetland coast in January 1993 due to an engine failure in a storm. Rescue was not possible in stormy weather, so that all of the oil carried by the tanker ended up in the North Sea . The Braer was at the time of the accident with oil from the Norwegian Gullfaks fully loaded field. It was about twice the amount that the Exxon Valdez lost in its accident. Nevertheless, the consequences of the Braer accident were, for various reasons, far less dramatic.
The maritime court hearing revealed that the shipwreck was caused by the fact that the ship's fuel was contaminated with seawater.
