Barbaros Kiran

Accident

On 30 October 2002, the cargo tanker the Barbaros Kiran suffered a leak and was towed by the Abeille Flandres in the Rade de Brest. The vessel was in the process of dewatering, and the water released into the sea contained a certain quantity of oil due to the leak. The Brest AEM (State Action at Sea) called upon Cedre to measure the quantity of hydrocarbon in the disposal water.

Cedre's role

An expert sent immediately by Cedre to the vessel took a number of different samples. The total hydrocarbon content of the bilge water remained between 0.9 and 9 ppm. However, due to the presence of a silvery film on the water surface, the water was piped into a barge and a boom was set up around the tanker. Further samples were taken the following day (concentration up to 5.6 ppm).

Lessons to be learnt

In line with the protection of ports and harbours, ships in difficulty in Brest's port must systematically be surrounded by a boom to contain any pumping water which may escape, while waiting for a barge to arrive to collect the pumping water. Any spilled oil is then recovered using a suitable skimmer.