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Cracks found in oil tanker
BBC News Scotland
6th February 2003
The tanker was loading at the Sullom Voe
oil terminal
A tanker carrying thousands of tonnes of
crude oil has been detained at a harbour in
Shetland after cracks were found in the vessel's tanks.
The 235-metre Norwegian tanker, the "Arandal", was loading at the Sullom Oil Voe terminal when the defect was discovered.
The 17-year-old vessel is being kept in port by surveyors from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and 60,000 tonnes of oil has been removed from the tanks.
The vessel has been placed under detention at Sullom Voe until it can be discharged following assessment and repairs.
“ There's no risk, the oil has been taken off and is back in the terminal but we are still treating this as a serious potential incident.” BP spokesman
The BP-operated terminal, at the northern end of the biggest of the Shetland Islands, is one of the largest oil and gas terminals in Europe.
BP, which chartered the ship, confirmed that it owned the oil and said it was treating the fault as "a serious potential incident".
A spokesman said: "One or two hairline cracks about a couple of feet long were found in the walking area of the deck.
"It's a fairly minor problem and a very rare occurrence but we are working with the tanker's owners to find out how it happened.
"There's no risk, the oil has been taken off and is back in the terminal but we are still treating this as a serious potential incident."
BP said it had chartered the Arandal, which was bound for the US, several times before and there had been no previous problems.
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