Moller, and contracted by Shell Oil Company, consisting of a crew of seventeen at the time of the accident.
Receiving aid from tug boats, the ship grounded on a sand bank, causing a huge explosion and subsequent fire that burned for days.
The owners of the ship and the Shell company met together to decide how the oil spill was going to be cleaned or treated.
The cleanup was the responsibility of the Portuguese Navy, Commandant Casquinno was appointed to clean up the oil spill and came up with a plan.
[5] The most affected beach was the shore immediately adjacent to the wreck, where cleanup began with the removal of the upper layer of sand and the application of dispersants.
This area was left until late in the cleanup and was extremely difficult to clean because the bunker C oil had been spread and untreated for some time.
Dispersant was also added and affected very minimally due to the heavily seated bunker C. The ship's prow became stuck on a set of rocks near the Castelo do Queijo monument, remaining there for about 20 years, eventually becoming a landmark of the city until its removal.
Dead seaweed and molluscs were found, but growth resumed shortly thereafter and populations returned to normal levels.
The cost of the catastrophe was estimated at 2.8 million dollars by the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.