| Deepwater Horizon (Gov’t Low Est) | Gulf of Mexico | 162,337 | 04/21/2010 | Crude oil | Wellhead blowout | An underwater well gushed oil into the Gulf unrestrained until June 6, when a containment cap began capturing some. On July 15, a better-fitting containment cap was attached. Relief wells are being drilled to stop the flow permanently. |
| Deepwater Horizon (Gov’t High Est) | Gulf of Mexico | 470,779 | 04/21/2010 | Crude oil | Wellhead blowout | An underwater well gushed oil into the Gulf unrestrained until June 6, when a containment cap began capturing some. On July 15, a better-fitting containment cap was attached. Relief wells are being drilled to stop the flow permanently. |
| Lakeview Gusher | United States, Kern County, California | 1,227,600 | 03/14/1909 | Oil Spill | Wellhead blowout | The most productive single oil well in California. It was an immense out-of-control pressurized oil well resulting in what is regarded as the largest oil spill in history, lasting 18 months and releasing 9,000,000 barrels of crude oil when it was first tapped in 1909. |
| Gulf War oil spill | Persian Gulf, Kuwait | 1,091,405 | 01/19/1991 | Oil Spill | War | During the 1991 Gulf War, tankers and oil terminals in Kuwait were destroyed, causing the release of an estimated 6-8 million barrels of oil into the waters of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf. Many oil wells in Kuwait were destroyed and set on fire, resulting in the release of much greater amounts of oil and combustion products to land, air, and water in Kuwait. The spill did little long-term damage, international researchers say. |
| IXTOC I | Mexico, Gulf of Mexico | 470,000 | 06/03/1979 | Oil Spill | Wellhead blowout | The 2-mile-deep exploratory well, Ixtoc I, blew out on June 3, 1979 in the Bay of Campeche off Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico. The water depth at the wellhead site is about 50 m (164 feet). By the time the well was brought under control in March, 1980, an estimated 140 million gallons of oil had spilled into the bay. |
| Atlantic Empress | Off Tobago West Indies | 287,000 | 07/19/1979 | Oil Spill | Collision | About 287000 tonnes of crude spilled after a collision off Tobago between the Atlantic Empress and the Aegean Captain. |
| Fergana Valley | Uzbekistan | 285,000 | 03/02/1992 | Oil Spill | Unknown | |
| Nowruz Oil Field | Persian Gulf, Iran | 260,000 | 02/10/1983 | Crude oil Spill | Collision and bombing | an oil tanker hit the Nowruz Field Platform in the gulf and knocked it onto a 45 degree angle, damaging the well underneath. The resulting leak of 1,500 barrels a day could not be capped for months because the platform was under constant attack by Iraqi planes. |
| ABT Summer | 700 nautical miles off Angola | 260,000 | 05/28/1991 | Iranian heavy crude oil | Fire / Explosion | On 28th May 1991, while en route from the Gulf terminal at Kharg Island, Iran to Rotterdam the tanker ABT SUMMER, fully laden with a cargo of 260,000 tonnes of Iranian heavy crude oil, experienced an explosion and a fire about 900 miles off the coast of Angola. Five of the 32 crew members on board died as a result of the incident. |
| Castillo de bellver | Off Saldanha Bay South Africa | 252,000 | 06/08/1983 | Light crude oil | Fire | CASTILLO DE BELLVER, carrying 252,000 tonnes of light crude oil (Murban and Upper Zakum), caught fire about 70 miles north west of Cape Town, South Africa on 6 August 1983. The blazing ship drifted off shore and broke in two. |
| Amoco Cadiz | Brittany, France | 223,000 | 03/16/1978 | Oil Spill | Collision | The Amoco Cadiz encountered stormy weather and ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France on March 16, 1978. Its entire cargo of 68.7 million gallons of oil spilled into the sea, polluting about 200 miles of Brittany's coastline. |
| Amoco Haven tanker disaster | Mediterranean Sea near Genoa, Italy | 144,000 | 04/11/1991 | Crude oil | Explosion | The Cypriot VLCC (very large crude carrier) the Haven, anchored off the coast of Genoa, was loaded with 144,000 tonnes of crude oil, when she caught fire, exploded and broke into three parts. One of the parts sank on the spot, the others sank during towing. |
| Production well D-103 | 800 km southeast of Tripoli, Libya | 142,860 | 08/01/1980 | Crude oil | Wellhead blowout | |
| ODYSSEY | 700 nautical miles off Nova Scotia Canada | 132,000 | 11/10/1988 | Crude oil | Heavy weather / Fire | The Liberian tanker ODYSSEY, almost fully loaded with a cargo of 132,157 tonnes of North Sea Brent crude oil, broke into two and sank in heavy weather in the North Atlantic 700 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia while on voyage from Sullom Voe, Shetland Islands to Come by Chance Newfoundland. Fire started on the stern section as it sank and the surrounding oil caught fire. |
| Torrey Canyon | Isles of Scilly, England | 119,000 | 03/18/1967 | Kuwait crude oil | Navigational error | TORREY CANYON ran aground on Pollard Rock on the Seven Stones Reef, near Lands End, Cornwall on 18 March 1967. Thousands of tonnes of oil were soon spilling from the stricken vessel's ruptured tanks and during the next 12 days the entire cargo of approximately 119,000 tonnes of Kuwait crude oil was lost. |
| Sea Star | Gulf of Oman | 115,000 | 12/19/1972 | Crude oil | Collision | The South Korean tanker SEA STAR was on voyage from Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when it collided with the Brazilian tanker HORTA BARBOSA in the Gulf of Oman, off the Indian Ocean on 19th December 1972, and exploded, killing 12 crew members. Both vessels caught fire but while the HORTA BARBOSA was extinguished within a day, the SEA STAR continued to burn. After a series of explosions, the SEA STAR sank 5 days after the collision. |
| Texaco Denmark | North Sea, Belgium | 107,140 | 12/07/1971 | Oil Spill | Unknown | |
| Shuaiba Petroleum Tank | Shuaiba, Kuwait | 106,120 | 08/20/1981 | Storage tank | Unknown | |
| Kharyaga-Usinsk Pipeline Spill | Usinsk in Northern Russia (Komi Republic) | 104,420 | 10/25/1994 | Oil Spill | Ruptured pipeline, old equipment | |
| Urquiola | La Coruña, Spain | 100,000 | 05/12/1976 | Oil Spill | Collision | |
| Irenes Serenade | Navarino Bay Greece | 100,000 | 02/23/1980 | Iraqi crude oil | Fire / Explosion | |
| Pipeline No. 126 well and pipeline | Ahvazin, Iran | 95,240 | 05/25/1978 | Oil Spill | Ruptured pipeline | |
| Hawaiian Patriot | 300 nautical miles off Honolulu | 95,000 | 02/23/1977 | Light Indonesian crude oil | Heavy weather / Fire | |
| Independenta | Istanbul, Turkey | 95,000 | 11/15/1979 | Crude oil | Collision | |
| Jakob Maersk | Leixoes, Portugal | 88,000 | 01/29/1975 | Crude oil | Grounding/ fire | |
| M/V Braer | Shetland Islands UK | 85,000 | 01/05/1993 | Norwegian Gullfaks crude oil and heavy bunker oil | Heavy weather | Constant storm force winds and heavy seas broke the ship apart. |
| Storage tank Tank #6 | Forcados, Nigeria | 81,290 | 06/06/1979 | Oil Spill | Storage tank leak | Hundreds of pipeline leaks and other oil spills happen every year in the Nigerian delta. |
| Khark 5 | 400 miles north of Las Palmas, Canary Islands | 80,000 | 12/19/1989 | Iranian heavy crude oil | Explosion | The Iranian oil tanker Khark 5, en route from Kharg Island to Rotterdam, was caught in a storm and suffered an explosion off the coast of Safi, 400 miles north of the Canary Islands. |
| Aegean Sea | La Coruna Spain | 74,000 | 12/03/1992 | North Sea Brent crude oil | Heavy weather | The vessel broke in two and caught fire. Ship and spilled cargo burned for several days, causing dense clouds of black smoke to threaten the city of La Coruna, leading to a temporary mass evacuation. |
| Sea Empress | Milford Haven UK | 72,000 | 02/15/1996 | Blend North Sea crude oil | Grounding | ran aground on the rocks at Saint Ann's Head at the entrance to Milford Haven Bay |
| NOVA | Off Kharg Island Gulf of Iran | 70,000 | 12/06/1985 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| Katina P | 25 miles north of Maputo, Mozambique, 6 miles offshore | 66,700 | 04/19/1992 | Crude oil | Structural/mechanical failure | |
| M/V Prestige | Off Spanish coast | 64,000 | 11/15/2002 | Heavy fuel oil | Sunken Vessel | |
| Wafra | Cape Agulhas, South Africa | 63,000 | 02/27/1971 | Arabian crude oil | Deliberately sunken | |
| Othello | Sweden, Trälhavet Bay | 60,000 | 03/20/1970 | Heavy fuel oil | Collision | |
| Andros Patria | off the coast of La Coruna, Galicia | 60,000 | 12/31/1978 | Iranian heavy crude oil | Explosion | A fire broke out on the Andros Patria after an explosion in one of her tanks, due to a leak in the hull. 34 crew members were killed in the incident and 60,000 of the 210,000 tonnes of Iranian heavy crude oil that the ship was transporting poured into the sea. |
| Sinclair Petrolore | Brazil | 59,860 | 12/06/1960 | Oil Spill | Unknown | |
| Epic Colocotronis | Caribbean Sea, 111 km NW of Puerto Rico, USA | 58,000 | 05/13/1975 | Crude oil | Grounding | |
| Newtown Creek Oil Spill | Newtown Creek, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York | 55,250 | 11/15/1979 | Oil and oil products | Oil refinery tank explosion | Although an explosion in 1950 contributed to the contamination, the area has been used by various petroleum companies for more than 140 years, and the 17 million gallons accumulated gradually over that time — not all at once after the explosion. |
| Assimi | Gulf of Oman, Ras al Hadd, 93 km from Muscat, Oman | 53,740 | 01/07/1983 | Oil Spill | Fire / Explosion | A fire broke out in the engine room of the tanker Assimi on January 7th, 1983. Three days later explosions took place and the fire intensified. The Assimi finally sunk on January 16, after being towed to deep water 200 miles from the Oman coast. Further explosion occurred as the vessel split in two and sank which ignited the oil on the surface of the water. |
| Yuyo Maru No. 10 | Tokyo Bay, Honshu Island, Japan | 52,836 | 11/09/1974 | Naphtha | Collision | The Yuyo Maru 10 tanker collided with the ship Pacific Ares in the Uraga Channel in Tokyo Bay. 34 men were killed in the accident after the ship caught fire. All efforts to extinguish the fires failed and finally after 19 days the ship, still burning, was towed far out to sea and sunk by torpedo and gunfire. |
| VLCC Metula | First Narrows, Strait of Magellan, Chile | 51,000 | 08/09/1974 | Light Arabian crude oil | Grounding | The tanker was passing through the First Narrows area of the Strait of Magellan, during severe tidal and current conditions. The Metula cut a corner too sharp, hitting a 40-foot shoal and grounding itself. The difficulty of navigating a ship of such size, with minimum navigation aids, contributed to the accident. |
| World Glory | 65 miles ENE of Durban, South Africa | 48,300 | 06/13/1968 | Kuwait crude oil | Structural/mechanical failure | The World Glory, bound for Huelva, Spain, broke up. The stern section of the vessel sank after about two hours, while the bow section drifted southwest with the Agulhas Current. The bow was presumed to sink at 30 06 S, 031 54 E, approximately 40 miles from the initial breakup. All the ship's cargo of Kuwait crude oil, eventually spilled into the Indian Ocean. |
| Pericles GC | Persian Gulf, 30 km east-northeast of Doha, Qatar | 47,620 | 12/09/1983 | Oil Spill | Fire / Explosion | A fire broke out in the engine room of the Pericles GC about 200 miles off Doha in Qatar. The crew abandoned the ship which sank after explosions and came to rest on the sea bed with 30 feet of the hull visible above water. |
| Ennerdale | Indian Ocean, Seychelles | 46,940 | 06/01/1970 | Crude oil | Grounding | The Ennerdale grounded on an unmarked rock in the Seychelles |
| British Ambassador | 333 km west of Iwo Jima Island, Japan | 46,000 | 01/13/1975 | Crude oil | Structural/mechanical failure | |
| Tadotsu | Strait of Malacca, near Dumai, Indonesia | 44,900 | 12/07/1978 | Oil Spill | Unknown | |
| Mandoil II | Pacific Ocean, near Warrenton, Oregon, USA | 42,860 | 02/29/1968 | Crude oil | Collision | The Mandoil II tanker collided with the Suwaharu Maru in dense fog on February 28, 1968. The Mandoil II caught fire and had to be abandoned |
| Betelgeuse | Bantry Bay, Ireland | 40,000 | 01/08/1979 | mixed Arabian crude oil | Explosion while unloading | The Betelgeuse oil tanker was unloading her cargo at the Gulf Oil Terminal on Whiddy Island when the vessel exploded, still containing 40,000 tonnes of oil. 50 of the crew members were killed and the Betelgeuse was split in two during the explosion. |
| Napier | Southeast Pacific Ocean off west coast of Chile | 38,440 | 06/10/1973 | Crude oil | Grounding | |
| Juan Antonio Lavalleja | Arzew Harbor, Algeria | 37,400 | 12/29/1980 | Oil Spill | Grounding | |
| EXXON VALDEZ | Prince of Wales Island, Alaska | 37,000 | 01/23/1989 | Alaska North Slope crude oil | Grounding | The Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The tanker was traveling outside the normal shipping lanes in an attempt to avoid ice. It spilled 37,000 tonnes of oil into the marine environment, and impacted more than 1,100 miles of non-continuous Alaskan coastline. State and Federal agencies continue to monitor the effects of this spill, which was the largest oil spill in U.S. History. |
| Corinthos | Delaware River, Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania | 35,700 | 01/31/1975 | Algerian crude oil | Fire / Explosion | |
| Saint Peter | Pacific Ocean, 56 km W of Punta Manglares, Colombia | 35,030 | 02/06/1976 | Crude oil | Fire / Explosion | A fire broke out in the engine room of the St. Peter tanker on February 4th, 1976. The vessel burned for two or three days before it sank approximately 18 miles off Cabo Manglares, Colombia. The wreck lying at a depth of 1000 meters was known to be leaking oil nine months after sinking. |
| Chryssi | Bermuda | 32,000 | 12/01/1970 | Crude oil | Structural/mechanical failure | |
| Tasman Spirit | off Karachi ( Pakistan ) | 30,000 | 07/27/2003 | Unknown | Grounding | |
| Jiyeh power station oil spill | Lebanon conflict | 30,000 | 07/15/2006 | Heavy fuel oil | War | |
| Montara oil spill | Australia, Timor Sea | 30,000 | 08/21/2009 | Oil and gas leak | Wellhead blowout | |
| Argo Merchant | 29 miles southeast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts | 28,000 | 12/15/1976 | Fuel oil | Grounding | shipwreck broke apart |
| Ekofisk Bravo oil field | Norway, North Sea | 27,600 | 04/22/1977 | | Wellhead blowout | due to an incorrectly installed downhole safety valve |
| Funiwa No. 5 Well | Niger Delta, Forcados, Nigeria | 27,285 | 01/17/198 | Crude oil | Well Blowout | The Funiwa No. 5 well located 5 miles off the Niger Delta, Nigeria, blew out. Approximately 200,000 barrels of oil spilled from the well. On January 29 the oil ignited. The flow of oil stopped on February 1 as the Funiwa No. 5 bridged. |
| Erika | France, Bay of Biscay | 20,000 | 12/12/1999 | Heavy fuel oil | damage to ship | |
| Kirki | Cervantes, Western Australia | 17,280 | 07/21/1991 | Light crude oil | Unknown | |
| M/V Megaborg | Gulf of Mexico, 57 miles SE of Galveston, Texas | 16,501 | 06/08/1990 | Angolan Crude Oil | Fire during lightering operations | |
| Seki oil spill | E coast of the United Arab Emirates near Fujaira in the Gulf of Oman | 15,900 | 03/31/1994 | Crude oil | Collision | Crude oil leaked into the Arabian Sea after the Panamanian-flagged supertanker Seki spilled the crude 10 miles (16 km) off the UAE port of Fujairah, just outside the Gulf, when it collided with the UAE tanker Baynunah, which was in ballast. Oil reached the UAE coast north of Khor Fakkan close to the Strait of Hormuz. The oil slick severely polluted several beaches and threatened more than 25 miles (40 km) of coastline. |
| Santa Barbara Well blowout | Santa Barbara, California | 14,000 | 01/28/1969 | Crude oil | Well Blowout | |
| Tanio | Brittany, France | 13,500 | 03/07/1980 | No. 6 fuel oil | Heavy weather | |
| Limburg | Yemen, Gulf of Aden | 12,200 | 06/10/2002 | Crude oil | Bomb attack | |
| Bass Enterprises (Hurricane Katrina) | Cox Bay, Louisiana , United States | 12,000 | 09/06/2005 | Crude oil | Hurricane Katrina | |
| MT Hebei Spirit | South Korea, Yellow Sea | 10,800 | 12/07/2007 | Crude oil | Collision | The oil tanker the Hebei Spirit was anchored in front of the Port of Incheon on the west coast of South Korea, south of Seoul, when it was hit by the barge Samsung 1 which was drifting as its towline had broken. |
| Ashland Petroleum Company | Floreffe, Pennsylvania | 10,000 | 01/04/1988 | Diesel fuel | Tank failure | A 4 million gallon oil storage tank owned by Ashland Oil Company, Inc., split apart and collapsed at an Ashland oil storage facility located in Floreffe, Pennsylvania, near the Monongahela River |
| No Results |
