María Alejandra (ship)
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The María Alejandra was a Spanish crude oil tanker built in 1977 . The ship was lost in March 1980 as a result of explosions in the Atlantic Ocean .
history
Construction and commissioning
The ship was built under construction number 101 at the Astilleros Españoles shipyard in Cádiz . The keel was laid on March 24, 1975, the launch on October 6, 1976. The completion and delivery of the ship took place in April 1977. The ship was delivered to the Spanish company Mar Oil. It was initially built for the Italian shipping company d'Amico Società di Navigazione, which, however, withdrew from the contract. The María Alejandra was the last super tanker to be built at the Astilleros Españoles shipyard in Cádiz. The shipyard had built a number of tankers for various shipping companies since the mid-1960s.
The ship was chartered by the Spanish company Compañía Española de Petróleos (CEPSA), which used it to transport crude oil from the Persian Gulf to oil refineries in Algeciras and Santa Cruz de Tenerife .
Explosion and demise
 
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At the beginning of March 1980 the tanker in Algeciras unloaded a load of crude oil from Ra's Tanura in Saudi Arabia . Unloading was completed on the morning of March 6th and the ship was being prepared for the ballast voyage to the Persian Gulf. During the unloading there had been problems with the inert gas system, which is intended to prevent the formation of an explosive air-gas mixture in the cargo tanks. Although the problem could not be resolved, the ship left Algeciras on March 8th. Further work to repair the inert gas system was carried out at sea.
By March 11th, the issues had not been fully resolved. At around 1.30 p.m., the ship was about 900 km south of the Canary Islands off the coast of Mauritania , an explosion shook the ship, which was followed a few times later by a second, significantly more powerful explosion and two more explosions. The structure of the ship was so badly damaged by the explosions that the hull broke into two parts. In addition, there was a fire and severe water ingress in the engine room , which quickly sank the rear of the ship. The front part of the ship only sank during the night in the Atlantic, which is about 1200 meters deep here.
Several crew members who survived the disaster held on to the floating wreckage of the ship for hours before being rescued by several ships. As a result, a search was carried out, in which further debris from the ship and seven bodies, but no other survivors were found.
At the time of the accident, there were 36 crew members and seven passengers on board the ship. Only seven crew members survived the accident. The cause of the accident was suspected to be explosive air-gas mixtures in the cargo tanks, which led to the explosions. Since the ship was on a ballast voyage, only a relatively small amount of just under 4,200 tons of oil got into the sea in the accident.
Technical specifications
The ship was from a B & W - diesel engine with 32,560 hp power driven. The engine worked on a propeller .
The ship was equipped with 19 cargo tanks. The total capacity of the tanks was 283,813 m³.
Individual evidence
- ^ Maria Alejandra , Auke Visser's International Super Tankers. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ a b c d e Juan Carlos Diaz Lorenzo: La tragedia del petrolero “María Alejandra” , Puente de Mando, March 11, 2016. Accessed August 17, 2020.
- ↑ a b Alejandro Martín: 40 años del hundimiento del 'María Alejandra', el barco que no debía navegar , Diario de Cadiz, March 8, 2020. Accessed August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Listado general construcciones navales , Historia Astilleros de Cádiz. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ^ Maria Alejandra , Center for Tankship Excellence. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Carlos Fernández: Desaparecen once gallegos tras el naufragio del petrolero "María Alejandra" , La Voz de Galicia, March 12, 2005. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
- ↑ Estimates of Oil Entering the Marine Environment from Sea-based Activities , Reports and Studies, Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection, No. 75/2007, p. 35 (PDF, 2.6 MB).
- ↑ MV Maria Alejandra , Wrecksite. Retrieved August 17, 2020.