In a 25 July ruling, a Philadelphia judge has ordered an asphalt refinery to pay about USD100 million in damages to two Greek shipping companies and the US government over the 2004 Athos I oil spill.
The US federal district court judge Joel Slomsky found Citgo Asphalt Refining and related companies liable for USD 55.5 million in damages to Frescati Shipping and Tsakos Shipping & Trading, the owner and manager respectively of the tanker Athos I, which spilled about 264,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into the Delaware River after colliding with a rogue ship’s anchor partially buried in the river bottom.
Citgo was also ordered to reimburse the US government USD44 million it had paid to the shipping companies from the Oil Spill Liability Trust fund.
The ruling marked the culmination of 12 years of litigation and “the devoted commitment of an army of lawyers and experts from the government and the private sector” to uncover the incident’s cause and who was liable, Slomsky noted in his opinion.
The accident occurred after a six-day voyage from Venezuela as the 60,880 dwt, 1983-built vessel approached Citgo’s dock in Paulsboro, New Jersey, with a load of heavy crude. The uncharted 9-tonne anchor ripped holes in the tanker’s ballast and cargo tanks, resulting in a spill that affected some 450 km of shoreline. Cleanup costs and natural resources and third-party claims totalled about USD300 million.
The only remnant of Athos I – which was scrapped at a shipbreaking beach in Bangladesh for some USD9.4 million in March 2008, according to IHS data – is “a cut-out section of the hull displaying two unique holes with jagged edges in a shed in Baltimore, Maryland, near a rusted anchor with a fluke that has an evenly curled bent tip”, Slomsky said.
“The story of the final voyage of the Athos I and the reasons why it came to rest prematurely may be in the minds of the maritime community for years to come,” he added. “But in this court, for now, its legal journey will conclude here.”
Did you subscribe for our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Reference: IHS Fairplay, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
