Nakhodka (ship)
The Nakhodka ( Russian: Находка , Nachodka ) was a Russian oil tanker that broke and sank off Japan on January 2, 1997.
history
The ship
The tanker, built in 1970, belonged to "Prisco Traffic Limited" and was 26 years old at the time of the accident. It was operated by the shipping company "Primorsk Shipping", was measured with 13,157 GRT, had a deadweight of 20,471 dwt and had a crew of 32 men. The ship was registered with the Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) in Russia, and its technical condition was monitored by a Russian classification society .
The accident
In January 1997 the Nakhodka was on a journey with around 19,000 tons of heavy fuel oil from Shanghai to Petropavlovsk . On January 2, during a severe storm in the Sea of Japan , about 106 km north-northeast of the Oki Islands , the ship broke apart due to severe structural damage (position: 37 ° 7 ′ N , 133 ° 55 ′ E ). 31 crew members were able to save themselves from the sinking ship, the captain stayed behind on the ship and died. The stern sank soon after it broke up, while the forecastle drifted to the Japanese coast on January 7th and was stranded on the rocky bottom of the national park-like Echizen-Kaga coast near the Antou coast and the village of Mikuni. Several thousand tons of the oil cargo leaked and reached various coastal areas in the days up to January 21. According to various estimates, between three and six thousand tons of this polluted the coastal region of Fukui Prefecture. The aft ship with the remaining cargo of around 10,000 tons is located in a water depth of around 2,500 meters.
Cleanup
The clean-up work lasted from January 13 to February 25, 1997. Among other things, most of the remaining cargo from the stranded forecastle was pumped into smaller coastal tankers and tank trucks by Nippon Salvage and other salvage companies. Around 30,000 tonnes of oil emulsion and residues were removed from the polluted coastline.
Compensation
Following the disaster, claims totaling £ 192 million were raised against the owner, his insurer UK Club and the 1971 and 1992 IOPC funds. The IOPC funds recognized part of the demands made on them, but sued the owner, the insurer and the classification society for compensation, whereupon a settlement was later reached. After the claims could initially be admitted up to an amount of 80%, the compensation procedure closed with claims in the amount of 114 million pounds.