Barge Sanam III

Accident

On 19 June 2010, Peru suffered a major spill in the port of San Jose de Saramuro (Loreto region) when the barge Sanam III, belonging to the Argentinian company Pluspetrol, ran aground carrying crude oil. The barge was transporting almost 800 m3 of crude oil when its tank no. 4 ruptured resulting in a spill of around 60 m3 of oil into the Marañón River, a tributary to the Amazon.
Pumping operations were quickly organised to remove the remaining oil from the barge, so as to limit the extent of the spill, and three booms were deployed, even although the harbour master's office was not notified until eight hours later.
Three weeks after the spill, up to 100 kilometres of river downstream were affected.
Crude oil accumulated mainly in blind channels and along the banks of the Marañón River, according to an expert from IIAP (Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana).
Due to the extent of the pollution, the indigenous population (28 communities) was left without a drinking water supply and could not fish, given the very high levels of hydrocarbons detected in the Marañón River.
IIAP recommended comprehensive monitoring of the short- and medium-term impacts on the water, sediment, and flora and fauna in the affected area. Furthermore, chemical agents were believed to have been used by PlusPetrol to agglomerate and sink the crude oil, despite the company reporting the use of booms and sorbents (Oclansorb).

According to the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines, the remaining oil was pumped out of the barge’s tanks and clean-up operations were conducted by the oil company.
Pluspetrol, Petroperú and Sanam were fined more than 1.6 million soles for spilling nearly 528 barrels of crude oil into the Marañón River on 19 June 2010. The oil company Pluspetrol was held liable for 70% of the spill (315 Tax Units, or 1,102,500 soles). Meanwhile, the transport company Sanam, was liable for 30% of the total payment (135 Tax Units, or 472,500 soles). Petroperú S.A., owner of the port of Saramuro, was also fined 10 Tax Units (35,000 soles).