Oostzee

The ***Oostzee*** was a small Dutch freight ship on which a serious toxic accident occurred on the Lower Elbe (Germany) in July 1989.

### 1980 to 1989

The ship was built in 1980 at the Martin-Jansen shipyard in Leer/Ostfriesland. The hull number was 163 and it was named _Oostzee_. It was built for the Rotterdam shipping company Noordlijn. This company was a owned by the Haren-Emser shipping company Intersee Schiffahrtsgesellschaft. From 1981 to 1983 the ship was operated as _Savonia_. It was under the management of Intersee and then sold by Noordlijn to the company "Noordzee" in Delfzijl. Noordzee operated it again in the following years under the management of Scheepvaartbedrijf Noordlijn, Emmen under the name _Oostzee_.

### Poison accident in 1989

In July 1989, the _Oostzee_ was on a voyage from Rotterdam through the Kiel Canal to Leningrad. The cargo in the ship's hold included barbed wire, silica sand, zinc ingots and 3913 barrels containing about 850 tons of epichlorohydrin. On the voyage from Rotterdam to the Elbe, the freighter encountered bad weather, during which some of the dangerous goods barrels slipped. In the process, about 40 barrels leaked. At the time, Günter Hollmann, a member of the "Oostzee" crisis team, said that improper storage of the toxic barrels was to blame. Contrary to the regulations, the barrels had been placed directly on the floor of the ship and had not been stacked properly.

On July 18, 1989, the ship arrived at the Kiel Canal, where it was prevented from continuing its voyage due to cargo damage that had already resulted in a chloroform-like odor on board. First the ship was referred to the Neuwerk roadstead and the crew was rescued.

Consideration was given to taking the ship to the manufacturing company Dow Chemical in Bützfleth, to Hamburg or to Cuxhaven, which was rejected in each case due to the proximity to residential areas.Ultimately, the Oostzee was taken to the Elbe port in Brunsbüttel to discharge the damaged cargo. The corresponding work lasted for more than three weeks and resulted in a number of accidents due to a lack of protection against the extremely harmful epichlorohydrin and its compounds.

As a result, numerous aid workers, police officers and sailors became ill and died of cancer.

### 1989 to 2009

After the accident, the ship was initially operated by Noordlijn and then sold in 1994 to the Nedlloyd subsidiary K.N.S.M.-Kroonburgh in Rotterdam, where it was operated as Louise Green by the shipping company General Shipping & Chartering Services (GenChart) until 1996. From January 1996, the ship was owned as _Trinity Square_ by _Gulfranger Shipping Company_ in Limassol and operated by _Vertom Scheepvaart- und Handelsmaatschappij_ in Rotterdam. Further stations were from October/November 1998 as _Sandy Cay_ for _C. Rehder Schiffsmakler und Reederei_ in Limassol, from July 1999 as _Nordica_ for _Unisand Shipping Company_ in Limassol under management of N.C. Schiffahrtsbüro in Bremerhaven and chartering by _Wilhelm Tietjen Befrachtungsgesellschaft_ in Hamburg, from October 2004 _Lady Rea_ for _Rea Maritime Corporation_ in Panama and finally from August 2006 as _Evgeniy Vasilyev_ for _Dream Hills Trading_ in Panama under management of _DSL Shipping_ in Limassol. At the end of 2009, the freighter was finally taken out of service and sold for demolition. In December 2009, the freighter arrived at the last port for scrapping in China.

## Importance

The Oostzee poison accident is still one of the best-known shipping accidents on the Elbe and attracted a great deal of media attention at the time due to the numerous mishaps during the handling process.  At the time, the accident was the reason for the Federal Ministry of Transport to build and convert existing units into so-called gas protection ships, which can be used in the event of chemical accidents at sea. The accident continues to be a case study that is mentioned again and again on the subject of the risks involved in transporting dangerous goods.

## Technology

Superstructure and engine plant were located aft. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a six-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine made by MWM, which delivered its power of up to 3000 hp to the fixed-pitch propeller via a gearbox. Two electro-hydraulic cranes were arranged on the port side.

## Other websites

- Oostzee at _Cedre_
- Deutscher Bundestag - Kleine Anfrage _Mehr Sicherheit beim Gefahrguttransport per Schiff_ (German)
- Björn Looström: _„The OOSTZEE Case July/August 1989“_