The "Tanio" sank on March 7, 1980 off the northern coast of Finistère.

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AFP

For forty years he has been lying in 80 meters deep, fifty kilometers north of the island of Batz, in Finistère.

Sunk on March 7, 1980 with eight sailors on board, the Tanio is still the subject of special attention by the authorities.

Last year, oil leaks were spotted on the hull of the boat after dozens of oiled birds were found on the coast.

From September 5 to 8, the French Navy therefore launched a major choking mission on the wreck of the oil tanker.

Considered "intermittent", these leaks had injured and killed dozens of seabirds in November 2019. Analyzes of samples taken from the birds had shown similarities with the heavy fuel oil from the tanker.

The hull inspection carried out last year confirmed these fears.

At the start of the week, sailors from the human diving and underwater intervention cell (CEPHISMER) intervened using a remote-controlled underwater vehicle.

[# Operation] From September 5 to 8, sailors @MarineNationale of the #CEPHISMER, embarked aboard the BSAM Garonne, intervened on the hull of the oil tanker Tanio, which had sunk off the island of Batz in 1980.



▶ ️ Press release: https://t.co/M78PQjbjtS pic.twitter.com/Ur2vXCa5fH

- Atlantic Maritime Prefecture (@premaratlant) September 9, 2020

The device affixed on the ten orifices identified "magnetic blanking plates" in order "to stop these leaks", specifies the maritime prefecture, which indicates that "special surveillance of the coast" will be "maintained over time" in order " to check that no new leak appears ”.

Flying the Madagascan flag, the 192 m long oil tanker built in 1958 had broken in two under the violence of a storm in 1980. Eight members of the crew were killed in the sinking.

The Tanio was carrying 28,600 tonnes of oil, some 10,000 tonnes of which spilled into the sea, contaminating 200 kilometers of coastline.

The rear part of the tanker, containing 7,500 tonnes of oil, had been towed to Le Havre, while the front part sank about 80 meters deep with more than 10,000 other tonnes.

Fifteen months of underwater operations had been necessary to recover more than 5,000 tons of oil and to plug the breaches.

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  • Boat

  • Oil

  • Shipwreck

  • Pollution

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