World's worst oil disasters
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Your support makes all the difference.World's worst
oil disasters The biggest oil spill in history occurred in July 1979, when a collision between two supertankers - the Atlantic Empress and the Aegean Captain - off Tobago released 250,000 tonnes of crude. Other major spillages include:
March 1967: Torrey Canyon ran aground off Land's End leaking 120,000 tonnes of crude. The damage inflicted on wildlife and beaches awoke the world to the hazards of tanker transportation.
March 1978: Amoco Cadiz discharged 223,000 tonnes of crude, polluting 186 miles of Brittany coast.
March 1989: Exxon Valdez struck a reef at Port William Sound, Alaska, leaking 38,000 tonnes of crude, causing $15bn damage.
January 1993: Braer spilt almost all of its 85,000-tonne cargo into the seas around Shetland.
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