limburg (tanker)

The Limburg was a French-flagged oil tanker, chartered by a Malaysian oil firm. It was a double hull vessel, built in 2000; its length was 332 meters and its width was 58 meters. On October 6, 2002, the Limburg was carrying 397,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran to Malaysia, and was in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen to pick up another load of oil. While it was some miles offshore, an explosives-laden boat rammed the starboard side of the tanker and detonated, catching the vessel on fire and spewing oil into the sea. 90,000 barrels spilled into the Gulf of Aden. One crew member, a 38 year-old Bulgarian named Atanas Atanasov, was killed, and several other crew members were injured. The fire was put out, and four days later the tanker was towed to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The damage to the tanker was around US$45 million. The ship was repaired by 2003. It was sold to Tanker Pacific and renamed the Maritime Jewel.

Limburg (Tanker)

See also