Top Ten Oil Spills

Here are the ten largest tanker oil spills in history:

• Gulf War oil spill (1991) – Approximately 240 million gallons of oil was spilled into the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War.
• Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010) – 210 million gallons of oil was spilled into the Gulf of Mexico due to an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
• Atlantic Empress/Aegean Captain (1979) – 90 million gallons of oil was spilled when two tankers collided off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago.
• ABT Summer (1991) – 51 million gallons of oil was spilled when the ABT Summer tanker caught fire and exploded off the coast of Angola.
• Castillo de Bellver (1983) – 42 million gallons of oil was spilled when the tanker caught fire and sank off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa.
• Amoco Cadiz (1978) – 37 million gallons of oil was spilled when the Amoco Cadiz ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France.
• Odyssey (1988) – 43 million gallons of oil was spilled when the tanker exploded and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Haven (1991) – 19 million gallons of oil was spilled when the Haven caught fire and sank off the coast of Genoa, Italy.
• Prestige (2002) – 17 million gallons of oil was spilled when the Prestige tanker broke in two and sank off the coast of Spain.
• Torrey Canyon (1967) – 3 million gallons of oil was spilled when the Torrey Canyon ran aground off the coast of Cornwall, UK.

Shipname	Year	Location	Spill size (in Tonnes)
Atlantic Empress	1979	Off Tobago, West Indies	287,000
ABT SUMMER	1991	700 nautical miles of Angola	260,000
Castillo De Bellver	1983	Off Saldanha Bay, South Africa	252,000
Amoco Cadiz	1978	Off Brittany, France	223,000
Haven	1991	Genoa, Italy	144,000
Odyssey	1988	700 nautical miles off Nova Scotia, Canada	132,000
Torrey Canyon	1967	Scilly Isles, UK	119,000
Sea Star	1972	Gulf of Oman	115.000
Irenes Serenade	1980	Navarino Bay, Greece	100,000
Urquiola	1976	La Coruna, Spain	100,000