Champion Trader
10/29/1998
USA
The incident
On 29th October 1998, an explosion occurred onboard the Champion Trader, killing one person and injuring five others.
The explosion resulted in the release of 14 m3 of heavy fuel oil and 460 tonnes of palm oil into Southwest Pass, in the Mississippi Delta (Louisiana).
An oil slick formed, spreading over a 3 km stretch of the Mississippi River. Only 20 tonnes of palm oil were recovered.
The US Coast Guard did not observe any damage to the flora and fauna.
The cost of clean-up operations was estimated at around US $600,000.
Sources:
- MAMACA Emina, GIRIN Michel, LE FLOCH Stéphane and EL ZIR Rawad, 2009, Review of chemical spills at sea and lessons learnt, Interspill 2009 conference
To find out more
NOAA database (IncidentNews)
Shipwreck zoneFleuve Mississippi, Louisiane
Spill areaCoastal zone
Accident causeBlast
Quantity transported800 m3 of heavy fuel oil
Pollutant typeHeavy fuel oil, palm oil
Quantity spilled14 m3 of heavy fuel oil and 460 tonnes of palm oil