The Epic Colocotronis was a tank bulk carrier (OBO) that burned out in the Caribbean in May 1975 with a cargo of around 60,000 tons of crude oil on board, without any major oil spill.
The ship was delivered in March 1965 from the Ateliers et Chantiers de Dunkerque et Bordeaux shipyard in Dunkirk as Hoegh Hood to the Norwegian shipping company Höegh. It was one of the world's first tank bulk carriers (OBO) and was powered by a 9-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine from the manufacturer Société des Forges et Ateliers du Creusot. Already in August 1968 the sale to the Estrelle Venturosa Cia. Nav. SA, and the management of the Greek Colocotronis Group, which renamed the ship Epic Colocotronis .
The accident
In May 1975 the ship was on a voyage from Venezuela to New York. The cargo consisted of around 60,000 tons of Venezuelan Crude oil . On May 13, about 60 nautical miles northwest of Kingston, Jamaica , cracks appeared in the hull and the superstructures caught fire. The crew could not control the fire and left the ship. All 36 men were later rescued by two passing tankers. The burning damaged vessel drifted on, sank deeper into the water and was later pumped out by the Dutch salvage tug Smit Salvor and towed to Kingston (other source: 10 nautical miles northwest of San Juan ) to be lightened. Later, the lightened ship was brought to Curaçao , where the insurance company declared it a total loss (constructive total loss).
consequences
Large parts of the deck structure had burned out after the end of the fire and the ship was so deep in the water that it hardly had a freeboard. Despite the fire and the cracks in the hull, only relatively small amounts of oil got into the water.
