Val Rosandra

On the night of 28 April 1990, the gas carrier Val Rosandra was discharging a cargo of propylene in the port of Brindisi (Italy) when a fire started on board. The crew was unable to control the fire and alerted the authorities.

For safety reasons the ship was towed out 10 km off the coast where fire crews attempted to extinguished the fire from a safety distance of 300 m. The salvage attempts continued for three weeks before it was decided to change the course of action.

On 15 May, Val Rosandra was towed to a position about 50 km off the coast where a safety zone of 22 km radius and 6 km height was set up. By means of explosives, the 1,800 tonnes of propylene and the bunker fuel were burnt off. On 11 June, a final round of explosives was used to sink the ship.

Measurements taken after the incident showed no evidence of pollution in the area.

Sources :

- HELCOM, 2002, HELCOM Response Manual - Volume 2
- Galerne Project, 2007, Transport and definition of accident scenarios