MSC Al Amine 
- Name
- MSC Al Amine
- Accident date
- 15/02/2005
- Location
- Tunisia
- Accident area
- Gulf of Tunis
- Spill area
- Inshore
- Cause of spill
- Structural damage
- Nature of pollutant
- heavy fuel oil
- Quantity spilled
- 100 - 150 tonnes
- Ship / structure type
- Container ship
- Flag
- Moroccan
On 15 February 2005, the Moroccan-owned, 13-year-old, 137 m long container ship MSC Al Amine suffered mechanical failure and grounded in the Gulf of Tunis near the Korbous health spa, spilling 100 to 150 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.
he Tunisian authorities requested that the shipowner organise clean-up operations, which were conducted by a specialised French company. Within the framework of trans-Mediterranean cooperation and upon request from the Provence-Alpes Côte-d’Azur region, the team leader of Cedre's Pollution Follow-up Department carried out a mission to provide technical expertise for the Tunisian National Environmental Protection Agency. The aims of this mission, conducted from 11 to 15 March, were to assess the sensitivity of the sites affected and to give advice on clean-up techniques and assessing ecological and economic impacts. The advice provided was mainly based on the experience of the heavy fuel oil spills caused by the Erika and the Prestige. Recommendations were also made on preparing compensation claims.