World's worst oil disasters

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.