Agia Zoni II

The incident

On 10 September 2017, the Agia Zoni II, a 45-year-old Greek-registered tanker, sat anchored west of the port of Piraeus in Greece, waiting to carry out a bunkering operation. At around 1:55 am, the vessel began to list following water ingress in two starboard ballast tanks, leading to loss of stability, with the situation quickly getting worse. The Master requested the assistance of two tugs. At around 2.30 am, most of the ship's hull was underwater, with only three metres of the bow visible above the sea level. The ship disappeared entirely underwater shortly afterwards, for reasons unknown at the time. It was resting on its port side at a depth of around 20 metres.

The vessel was carrying a cargo of 2,580 tonnes of oil products, including 2,200 tonnes of fuel oil (around 2,000 tonnes of Intermediate Fuel Oil 380 (IFO 380) and 200 tonnes of IFO 180) and 370 tonnes of marine gas oil (MGO). The ship was also carrying 15 tonnes of bunkers (MGO), 300 litres of lubricants and 200-300 litres of chemicals.

Two investigations were carried out into the cause of the incident, each leading to different conclusions:

• the investigation based on the 328-page technical report produced by the Technical University of Athens’ School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, ordered by the judge investigating the cause of the incident, determined that the Agia Zoni II had sunk as a result of a blast loading (explosion),
• while the other investigation, based on the report by the Marine Accident Investigation Council (ANSA), concluded that the incident was attributable to the deliberate and negligent actions of several key persons, and that the vessel had sunk after the seawater ballast valves were intentionally opened. According to this report, the cargo tanks were also opened to release the oil into the sea, in order to benefit from funds for pollution response.

A trial date was set for 24 October 2024. The five accused parties are charged with deliberately causing the sinking of the Agia Zoni II, after which a judgement will be handed down. In November 2024, an initial panel of judges and jury members was selected.

Pollution response

On 10 September, the shipowner and the salvage company Spanopoulos Group signed a salvage agreement (Lloyd's Standard Form of Salvage Agreement (LOF 2011)). The shipowner also contracted the Greek company Environmental Protection Engineering S.A. to clean-up the coastline, under the supervision of the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG).

At sea, spill response operations focused on containing the oil around the wreck of the Agia Zoni II, for which 600 metres of floating boom was quickly deployed, as well as sealing hatches and vent pipes. However, patches, slicks and fragmented clusters of oil were observed outside the boom.

Response and rescue vessels were mobilised, including four tugs, as well as oil recovery vessels. A floating crane was also deployed above the wreck to serve as a base for response operations.

The day after the spill, the salvors sub-contracted four clean-up companies. One of these companies also sub-contracted two further contractors.

The leak was stopped on 12 September, following which operations began to pump out the contents of the wreck's cargo and bunker tanks. Meanwhile, oil recovery continued at sea. The total quantity of oil recovered is difficult to estimate. The operation involved five oil spill response vessels from the Hellenic Coast Guard (HCG) and six vessels from private companies.

Between 1,600 and 2,000 m3 of oil (type unspecified) had been removed from the vessel after 19 days of pumping operations. The quantity of fuel oil spilled was estimated by the IOPC Funds at 500 tonnes.

Clean-up operations continued at sea, and the quantities of oil at sea gradually decreased as the slicks fragmented, making them difficult to contain and recover.

After removing 2,077 m3 of oil from the wreck using direct pumping and hot-tapping techniques, the salvors sealed all the cargo tanks and leaks to pressurise the tanks and force any oil trapped inside to the surface to be recovered.

In total, more than 9 km of booms were used, as well as sorbents, to protect uncontaminated areas or to contain the oil.

On the shoreline, clean-up operations involved a large number of contracting personnel (at times up to 400 people) to clean up contaminated areas using a variety of techniques (manual collection, pressure washing, etc.), depending on the nature of the substrate (rocks, beaches, etc.).

Waste from clean-up sites was transported to the Polyeco S.A waste management plant for initial treatment, then to Titan Cement Plant. In total, 3,692,030 kg of waste was produced.

At the site of the wreck, oil removal operations were completed in December 2017/January 2018.

Shoreline monitoring operations continued in January and February 2018 and, thereafter, more occasionally along certain beaches, during storms.

According to the ASNA report, quoted by the IOPC Funds, the duration of the pollution response operations was considered to be "excessive". The sealing of the cargo tanks of the wreck lasted for 53 hours and the pumping out of oil from the wreck lasted for 19 days. The pollution caused was therefore reported to be due to the late and long-lasting response by the salvors, resulting in high pollution response costs.

Treatment of the wreck

The oil removal and wreck lightering operations ended on 30 October 2017. On 30 November, the salvage company Spanopoulos Group, contracted by the Greek authorities, lifted the wreck of the Agia Zoni II and towed it to its shipyard at Salamina Island. Cleaning operations on the Agia Zoni II did not begin until 23 March 2018 and lasted until 27 April 2018.

The vessel remained afloat at the shipyard until 21 June 2018, when it was drydocked for the investigation by the Public Prosecutor. Measurements were taken on the ship's hull and samples of the hull plating were cut out and sent for metallurgical analysis.

Impact of the spill

On 12 September 2017, an undisclosed quantity of oil was found along 4 km of coastline on Salamina Island and 20 to 25 kilometres of coastline south of Piraeus Port and Athens. Some 300 pleasure boats are also oiled, calling for clean-up operations.

In addition to the oiling of beaches and rocks, patches of sunken oil were removed by divers.

The IOPC Funds' technical advisors advised the Greek authorities against the use of certain clean-up techniques employed by municipalities, including the bulk removal of contaminated and uncontaminated sand and debris from the beaches, which causes damage to the environment and generates large quantities of solid waste to be treated, with high disposal costs.

At the time of lifting of the wreck, some oil escaped and once again contaminated the neighbouring areas of Perama (Piraeus), calling for further shoreline clean-up operations.

The Hellenic Centre for Marine Research published a report which concluded that marine organisms had not been affected after December 2017 and that there was no evidence of bioaccumulation or residues detected in the area at depths of between 3 and 20 metres following the completion of clean-up operations.

Cedre's expert mission

Following the request for assistance issued on 29 September by the Hellenic Coast Guard via the Common Emergency Communication and Information System (CECIS) and the acceptance of REMPEC's offer, two experts were dispatched to Athens, Greece, from 8 to 14 October 2017, as part of the Mediterranean Assistance Unit (MAU).

Within this context, an expert from Cedre was mobilised alongside an expert from ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale). These two experts, both members of the MAU, provided technical support on techniques for assessing and removing submerged oil and the recovery of oil from sandy beaches.

Compensation

As Greece is a signatory to the 1992 Civil Liability and Fund Conventions and to the 2003 Supplementary Fund Protocol, the IOPC Funds established a local Claims Submission Office in Piraeus, which was operational from 2 November 2017 to 1 January 2021 to receive claims arising from the pollution damage caused by the Agia Zoni II.

Despite the conclusions of the ASNA report produced as part of the investigation, the 1992 Fund, having questioned its legal advisers and Greek lawyers, assessed and made payments of the claims submitted by the representatives of the salvor/clean-up contracting company. Mere suspicion of their actions would not be sufficient to deny payment.

In November 2024, the 1992 Fund had received 424 claims amounting to €100.21 million and one claim for USD 175,000, among which it approved 418 claims amounting to 98% of the total claims submitted. The 1992 Fund paid some €16.88 million in compensation in respect of 192 claims.