VLCC Metula oil spill

The VLCC Metula was in a supertanker that was involved in an oil spill in Tierra del Fuego, Chile in 1974.

On the evening of August 9, 1974, the tanker was passing through the First Narrows area, which is over three and half kilometers wide, of the Strait of Magellan, during severe tidal and current conditions.

The rough sea conditions resulted in the formation of a water-in-oil emulsion, which then landed on the shores of Tierra del Fuego.

(source http://www.aukevisser.nl/supertankers/VLCC%20L-M/id94.htm) No cleanup operation was executed due to the remoteness of the area; on many shorelines, the oil formed hard asphalt pavements.

The value of these organisms as food for other species was highly evident by the number of shell middens prevalent behind many of the local habitations.

However, the main economic stress that was prevalent was the tremendous difficulty to arrange logistical and manpower resources, and the cost of implementing a plan and managing the clean up.