The Grounding of Motor Tanker ALVENUS - Heavy Oil On Galveston Beaches in 1984

INTRODUCTION

For many oil spill responders, the Deepwater Horizon spill is the “high water mark” of our careers. There were other spills that impacted the Texas and Louisiana coast such as the Mega Borg, when in 1990, spilled 5.1 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, 57 miles south-southeast of Galveston, Texas, following a pump-room explosion and fire.  In 2006, 2.9 million gallons of waste oil spilled from a CITGO refinery on the banks of the Calcasieu River near Lake Charles, Louisiana. A 485-foot vessel struck a barge in the Houston Ship Channel in 2009, resulting in a 10,500 gallon oil spill. In early 2010, the Eagle Otome collided with a barge in the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Port Arthur, Texas, spilling 462,000 gallons of oil.

I thought I knew all the major spills…… then, I read about the ALVENUS.

ABSRACT

On July 30, 1984 at 12:36 p.m., the 609-foot United Kingdom Motor Tanker ALVENUS, built in 1979, grounded on the soft bottom of the Clacasueu Channel resulting with catastrophic structural failure of the bow section. The grounding occurred about 11 nautical miles south-southeast of Cameron, Louisiana, and seventy miles east of Galveston, Texas. At the time, this was the largest oil spill from a ship ever encountered in the Gulf of Mexico.  

The ALVENUS traveled from Venezuela en-route to Conoco's Clifton Ridge Terminal near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The weather was clear with a slight sea and a wind of around 15 to 20 knots out of the east. Water was a warm 80 degrees. Records indicate the ship proceeded inbound in the center of the channel. The ALVENUS was traveling at full maneuvering speed, approximately 11 knots. This speed was a usual and customary speed for similar vessels transiting the Calcasieu Channel. The ALVENUS was in the center of the channel when she struck the soft bottom. The resulting structural failure crumpled a 115-foot long seam across the bow. The Captain had no sensation of hitting anything at any time, but did have a feeling of slowing down immediately before time of the failure. There was no jolt, perceived impact, or sound prior to the failure. Upon grounding, oil sprayed up from the deck in the center of the vessel's No. 2 tanks, followed very rapidly by the violent upward lifting of the vessel's bow. As the hull was buckling, the engines of the ALVENUS were stopped as the ship began to slow. The ship drifted slowly out of the dredged channel to the northwest, eventually coming to rest on the bottom about two miles northwest of the scene of the casualty.

ALVENUS Buckled Starboard (Right ) Bow. Source: NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration

The oil that spilled out of the ALVENUS formed a heavy unified slick which was initially predicted to move offshore and south away from the Texas coast. Texas Gulf Coast residents were hopeful as on August 1, news headlines read, “Oil Spill Not expected to Hit Texas Beaches”.  But it was not to be, as the wind changed resulting in a westerly trajectory on August 2., ‘Optimism Turns to Despair”, would be on the front page of the Galveston Daily News.  

OIL COMES ASHORE TEXAS BEACHES

Between July 30 and August 4, 1984, the ALVENUS spilled approximately 2.7 million gallons (65,500 barrels - 18% of it’s total cargo) of viscous Merey (medium) and Pilon (heavy) crude oil into international waters off the Gulf of Mexico. It took a full day for oil containment booms and a sea barrier to be placed around the ALVENUS.  Rough seas however, forced the oil under the barrier. A lightering (offloading) barge was quickly contracted to remove the oil surrounding the ALVENUS.  But when the barge arrived, the captain of the barge’s tug, refused to receive the oil. The reason is lost to time, but this act would be a major contribution to the failed recovery effort.  A second barge and tug were contracted, but it was delayed due to a line becoming entangled in the tug’s propeller.  The principal contractor, Clean Gulf Associates, a newly formed industry cooperative. As such, they simply were not equipped for such a massive at-sea cleanup.  To make matters worse, attempts to contain and recover the oil at sea were rendered ineffective by rough seas and the magnitude of the spill. Soon, a well-defined 3-prong slick of oil traveled west from the ALVENUS for over 100 miles.  

By July 30, the ALVENUS’s remaining cargo was successfully pumped into barges and delivered to Conoco. The ship was then towed backwards to Todd Shipyard in Galveston. The backwards tow was to prevent further structural damage to the ALVENUS’s forward section.  

THE RESPONSE

At first, dispersants were considered to deal with this massive oil slick.  Two factors prevented their use. First, the high viscosity of the oil suggested that dispersants would not be effective. In fact, one report shows the slick was so viscous that the rotor wash from a helicopter hovering over it could not break through to expose the water below. Secondly, the sea state had calmed down resulting in few waves to assist in breaking the surface tension of the slick.  

Driven by steady winds a 85-mile long slick advanced down the Gulf Coast. The oil arrived on High Island, Port Bolivar and Galveston beaches on August 3 and 4. Over the next few days, the spill affected 90% of Galveston’s West Beach, including 80% of the Galveston Seawall and the associated rock groins.  

Worker standing in ALVENUS Oil on Galveston beach. Source: NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration 

By August 7, an estimated 714, 000 to 1,092, 000 gallons of oil gathered on Galveston area beaches. Cleanup crews were poised along the coast to begin dredging and soaking up the thick sludge, ranging in consistency from molasses to peanut butter.  An additional 310,800 to 466,200 gallons of oil absorbed sand and sediment to sink in the surf zone where it was trapped between sandbars. Divers confirmed sunken oil 4-inches deep, blanketed some areas. Fortunately, most sensitive inland estuaries were protected by prep-staged booms and the good luck of having much of the slick pass inlets during ebb (falling) tides.  

Workers walking in oil on Galveston beach. Source: NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration 

Then (as now), it was discovered here was no effective method of collecting the oil in the submerged state. Attempts to remove the submerged oil included scooping with mesh screening, pumping, and heavy equipment, but none of these techniques proved effective. Cleanup crews had to wait until the oil beached itself, a process that took several weeks. Records show, as of August 22, 99,100 cubic yards (150 dump trucks) of beach sand along with 7,900 tons of oil was removed from Galveston beaches to be disposed in a nearby municipal landfill.  

Cleaning of the seawall and revetment involved more than 150 workers manually removing oil with adsorbent materials, shovels, and rakes. Various "hydro-blasting" methods were tried. Low-pressure (850 psi) warmed seawater left stains on the rocks, a high-pressure "sugar" sand blast was effective on the rocks but not concrete seawall, and dry sand blasting proved too abrasive. Hydro-sand blasting was chosen as the most effective for seawall cleanup. A test of dispersant (Corexit 9527) was approved and conducted on the seawall. When the dispersant was unable to penetrate the oil, hydro-blasting remained the method of choice.  

CONCLUSION

It would not be until October 1, when Galveston beaches would be declared to be free of oil. For weeks, tar balls would continue to come ashore while thin sheens and pancakes of oil floating outside the surf zone. The economic damage was great, since Galveston's resort beaches were heavily oiled during the height of the tourist season. As soon as the thick oil hit Galveston beaches, tourism began to thin out. By August 7, hotel occupancy was down 20 percent. Some of the vacancies were fill with media members, curiosity seekers and attorneys who descended on Galveston in wake of the spill. Still, tourism losses were estimated at $2.5 million per day. Galveston’s commercial shrimp fishermen suffered too and would go on to file a damage suit for $100 million. Owners of blackened Galveston beachfront properties filed a class action suit to recover as much as $100 million from the ALVENUS owners. In all, the response and cleanup cost was estimated to have been $67.7 million ($158 million in 2017). 

Damage to the ALVENUS was extensive and estimated at $4.9 million by the vessel's owner. Loss of cargo was estimated at approximately $1.7 million at $26.00 a barrel. After changing owners and names several times, in 2002, the ALVENUS, then known as HALIFAX, would be broken up in Dubai. 

The oil industry including transportation, has made many advances in design, technology and safety since 1984. When faced with problems found during the ALVENUS oil spill, experienced responders adapted. Sadly, experience oil spill responders are leaving the industry due to retirement, or to seek steady employment in other industry. 

What does this mean for the oil spill responsible party? History has shown, they will continue to pay to clean and restore the environment. Often, the cost will be high. 

To read more, please see, M/VALVENUS: ANATOMY OF A MAJOR OIL SPIL, by Cdr. Anthony C. Alejandro and Lt. Cdr. Jack L. Buri, Coast Guard Proceedings, Volume 1987, Issue 1 (April 1987) at: https://ioscproceedings.org/doi/pdf/10.7901/2169-3358-1987-1-27