Erato 
- Name
- Erato
- Accident date
- 21/10/1991
- Location
- Mediterranean
- Accident area
- Off Algeria
- Spill area
- Offshore
- Cause of spill
- Weather conditions
- Quantity transported
- 25,894 tonnes of phosphate
- Nature of pollutant
- Phosphate and bunker fuel
- Quantity spilled
- 25,894 tonnes of phosphate + 500 tonnes of bunker fuel
- Ship / structure type
- Bulk carrier
- Built date
- 1968
- Flag
- Maltese
On 21 October 1991, on its way from Ashdod (Israel) to Rouen (Normandy) the Maltese bulk carrier Erato encountered very bad weather conditions and ran into difficulty. It sank off Algeria with a cargo of 25 894 tonnes of phosphate. During this accident, 500 tonnes of bunker fuel was discharged at sea.
Rescue operations were carried out but 5 crew men went missing.
Sources :
- IMO/UNEP/MAP/REMPEC, 2004, List of alerts and accidents in the Mediterranean
- MAMACA Emina, GIRIN Michel, LE FLOCH Stéphane and EL ZIR Rawad, 2009, Review of chemical spills at sea and lessons learnt, Interspill 2009 conference
- Legambiente and the Civil Protection Department, 2007, Pollution from hydrocarbons in the Mediterranean Sea
- HOOKE Norman, 1997, Maritime casualties 1963-1996, second edition, LLP Limited, London
External links
CIIMAR database: fate and weathering of Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) involved