In the early hours of November 1, a large bulk carrier named Louisa Bolten crashed into a tanker called Southern Puma in the Strait of Gibraltar, close to Algeciras, Spain. The Louisa Bolten is a big ship, measuring 179 meters long and weighing over 30,000 tons. The other ship, Southern Puma, is slightly smaller, at 156.5 meters long and weighing around 26,000 tons.
At the time of the accident, the Southern Puma was carrying a large load of liquid paraffin, a type of oil, and was traveling from Antwerp, Belgium, to Bilbao, Spain. Meanwhile, the Louisa Bolten was heading from Avonmouth, UK, to Aliaga, Turkey. When the Louisa Bolten struck the Southern Puma, it hit the tanker on its front right side, causing serious damage to that area of the ship.
After the crash, both ships were damaged, but the Southern Puma was in worse shape, with a breach in its hull. This led to a dangerous situation as the tanker started leaking paraffin into the sea. Soon after the accident, authorities quickly sent rescue ships and aircraft to the crash site. They discovered that the Southern Puma had spilled around 600 tons of paraffin into the water, creating pollution in the surrounding area. The paraffin spill was so significant that some of it solidified and started to wash ashore.
The Southern Puma was then escorted by four tugboats to the nearby port of Algeciras, where the remaining paraffin would be safely transferred to another vessel before the ship could be sent for repairs. To prevent more pollution, a floating barrier called a boom was placed around the tanker while in port.
Interestingly, early investigations found that the Southern Puma had turned off its AIS (Automatic Identification System) before the collision. This system usually helps other ships track each other’s locations to avoid accidents. On the other hand, after being checked, the Louisa Bolten was allowed to continue on its journey to Turkey.
Authorities are still looking into the causes of the collision and are working on cleanup efforts to reduce the impact of the spill on the environment. The incident remains under investigation, and more details may emerge as officials review the events leading up to this major spill.