Apollo Sea
{{Short description|Bulk carrier that sank in 1994}}
| {{Infobox ship begin |display title=ital}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship flag = | Ship commissioned=1973? | Ship decommissioned=1987 | Ship name = [http://www.wrecksite.eu/img/wrecks/e_w_beatty_apollo_sea.jpg E. W. Beatty]{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?210408 |title=APOLLO SEA CARGO - BULK CARRIER 1973-1994 |access-date=2014-08-19}} | Ship renamed = | Ship registry = | Ship identification = {{IMO Number|7327677}} | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Nippon Kokan K. K., Tsurumi & Shimizu, Japan | Ship original cost = | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship owner = CP Ships{{cite web |url=http://www.merchantnavyofficers.com/cp34.html |title=Merchant Navy Officers - Canadian Pacific |access-date=2014-08-19}} | Ship operator = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header =title | Ship flag = | Ship recommissioned=1987 | Ship decommissioned=1991 | Ship renamed = | Ship registry = | Ship identification = | Ship route = | Ship owner = unknown | Ship operator = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header =title | Ship flag = | Ship name = Apostolos Andreas | Ship recommissioned=1991 | Ship decommissioned=1993 | Ship renamed = | Ship registry = | Ship identification = | Ship route = | Ship owner = unknown | Ship operator = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header =title | Ship flag = | Ship recommissioned=1993 | Ship decommissioned=1994 | Ship renamed = | Ship registry = | Ship identification = | Ship route = | Ship owner = China Ocean Shipping Company{{cite news|title=Vermiste ertsdraer dalk oorsaak van olieramp |trans-title=Missing ore-carrier may cause oil disaster |language=af |author=Igna Schneider |newspaper=Die Burger |location=South Africa |publisher=Media24 |date=1994-06-28 |url=http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/1994/06/28/1/1.html |access-date=2014-08-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820092842/http://152.111.1.87/argief/berigte/dieburger/1994/06/28/1/1.html |archive-date=2014-08-20 }} | Ship operator = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship fate = foundered in gale/storm and sank on 26 June 1994 at {{Coord|33|32.49|S|17|50.92|E|display=inline,title}} in {{convert|147|–|180|m|abbr=on}}{{Cite journal |author=Moldan, Anton |others=South African Oil Industry Environment Committee |year=1997 |title=Response to the Apollo Sea Oil Spill, South Africa |journal=International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings |volume=1997 |pages=777–781 |publisher=International Oil Spill Conference |doi=10.7901/2169-3358-1997-1-777 |doi-access=free }} | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship type = Cargo-bulk carrier | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|260|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|41.7|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = | Ship depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = single diesel engine with single shaft and screw | Ship speed = {{convert|15|kn}} | Ship capacity = | Ship notes = }} |
MV Apollo Sea was a Chinese-owned, Panamanian-registered bulk carrier which sank near Cape Town in June 1994. Leaking oil from the sunken vessel caused a major environmental disaster which resulted in the death of thousands of seabirds, including endangered African penguins.{{Cite web |url=http://penguins.adu.org.za/sp003_01.php |title=Five years of monitoring African Penguins after the Apollo Sea oil spill: a success story made possible by ringing |date=2000-07-11 |access-date=2014-08-17 |website=Penguin Watch |last=Underhill |first=L. G. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512095931/http://penguins.adu.org.za/sp003_01.php |archive-date=2015-05-12 |url-status=dead }} All of the ship's 36 crew members died in the sinking, which apparently occurred so quickly that no general distress signals were given. The first public indication that the ship had sunk was the appearance of penguins covered with oil. The source of the slick was initially believed to be the wreck of the supertanker Castillo de Bellver, but this theory was disproven and the slick was instead traced to the wreck of the Apollo Sea. The vessel had been loaded with 2,400 tonnes (2,700 cubic metres) of heavy fuel oil when she left port four hours before she sank. Later it was revealed that an automated distress signal had been sent directly to the owners via satellite from the approximate location of the oil spill, and the owners eventually admitted the loss of the vessel and accepted responsibility for the spill.
Environmental impact
Gale-force winds hampered attempts to protect Cape Town from the emerging oil slick, and city beaches were streaked with oil. The oil affected the breeding grounds of the endangered African penguin on Dassen Island. Attempts were made to evacuate penguins to the mainland, but efforts were impeded by the rough weather.{{Cite news|url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118174552 |title = S. African city faces pollution disaster|date = 1994-06-27|access-date = 2014-08-17|newspaper = The Canberra Times}} 10,000 penguins were collected and cleaned. Of those, approximately 5,000 survived.
Six years later, the region's seabird rookeries were threatened by a similar incident; the MV Treasure oil spill.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{1994 shipwrecks}}
Category:Maritime incidents in 1994
Category:Merchant ships of China
Category:Oil spills in South Africa