AEGEAN SEA

Greek-flagged tanker from the North Sea that transported 79,081 tons of oil to the Repsol refinery in La Coruña, of which some 67,000 were dumped into the sea. In the early hours of December 3, 1992, due to an incorrect maneuver or due to a tidal surge —according to the ship's captain— it collided with the rocky shoals of Las Xacentes, about a hundred meters from the coast, near the entrance to the port of La Coruna. At eight in the morning the ship runs aground in front of the Tower of Hercules, near the entrance to the port. At 9:45 the ship splits into two sections. She quickly begins to burn. There were no human casualties. The 28 crew members of the ship were rescued, and the residents of the nearest neighborhood, Adormideras, had to be evacuated. For its part, the cloud of smoke from the ship covered the sky of the city for several hours. And the oil slick affected more than 300 kilometers of coastline. The stern remained on land and was dragged by the waves to the tower of Hercules until it was scrapped in 1998. The sunken remains, the propeller, the engine, some plates scattered in the environment surrounding the tower of Hercules, offer shelter to the usual fauna of the area, especially sargos, large sea bass, pintos.

Various sources