Cason
The mv “Cason was on its voyage from Antwerp tp Shanghai and Alian; loading ports: Hamburg, Rotterdam and Antwerp. The ship sailed from Antwerp on 30th November 1987. In bad weather the ship caught fire approximately 20 miles west of La Curuna because containers loaded with sodium came into contact with water. Frightened by the violent reactions the crew abandon ship. The mv ‘Cason’ drifted towards the coast of Finestere where it ran aground at Cape la Nave. 23 crew-members leaving the ship without protective clothing, died due to the low temperature of the water.
The wreck of the mv Cason was situated close to the coast where it was grounded on the rocky seabed approximately 100 m from the coast. The ship’s bottom was damaged and water was in the different holds. The situation was critical and the ship could easily loose all her cargo into the marine environment due to the bad weather circumstances.
”On December 5, 1987, the general cargo vessel “Cason” reported a fire on board while sailing off the coast of Spain. The fire spread and the ship lost control, it eventually ran aground despite the towing attempts.
Amongst other general cargo the following dangerous substances were on board of the Panamian mv Cason.
According to the manifest, there were close to 1.000 tonnes of chemicals stowed on deck, and 300 barrels of chemicals in the cargo holds:
| Substance | Amount (tons) |
| Sodium metal | |
| Xylenes | |
| Butanol | |
| Ortho-cresol | |
| Cyclohexanone | |
| Aniline oil | |
| Formaldehyde | |
| Phosphoric acid | |
| Diphenylmethane 4.4 Diisocyanate | |
Operations were started to unload the deck cargo, but on the night of December 10th, a series of explosions occurred on the vessel. Evacuation of the surrounding communities within a 5 km radius required 300 buses.
Quality control of air water and marine organisms showed moderate levels of air and water contamination. The bad weather conditions had most likely facilitated spreading and neutralization of the chemicals. No bioaccumulation of aniline or ortho-cresol was found in analysis of marine organisms.
A kind of priority had to be given: which hazardous substance to remove first, as the situation could escalate in which case the whole ship could break.
The action plan advised at that time containing the following:
- Remove the Sodium metal in the containers from the deck;
- Remove the sodium metal containers from hold 1;
- Remove everything from deck:
-
- First the drums of cresol
- Secondly the drums of formaldehyde
- Thirdly the drums of diphenyl methane 4.4 diiosocyanate
- All remaining cargo on deck
- Transfer the fuel oil
- Unload the ship completely (1) hazardous substances first (2) other cargo
- Salvage the vessel
