On December 12, 1999, the Erika tanker broke in two in heavy seas and gale force winds 60 kilometers south of Penmarc’h, Brittany. The 26 crew members were rescued by helicopter by the French Navy.

The tanker was carrying No. 2 fuel oil—the third most commonly used petroleum product after gasoline and diesel destined to Italy’s national electric utility ENEL for use in power generation.

Total chartered the Erika in good faith on the basis of documents—including a certificate of seaworthiness renewed in 1999—provided by RINA, a member of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), which consists of the world’s ten leading classification societies. With a very good scorecard from inspectors in its ports of call, the Erika had received letters of approval from and been chartered by several large companies in 1999.

The tanker sank due to a combination of bad weather and severe corrosion of the vessel’s structures, which had been concealed from the charterers.

Legal experts have since demonstrated that the true condition of the vessel’s structures was not consistent with the certificate issued by RINA.

On December 24, and during the days that followed, the oil spill reached and spread along the French Atlantic coast, affecting a 400-kilometer stretch between the Finistère and Charente-Maritime regions. Nearly 270,000 metric tons of waste, consisting of fuel oil mixed with seawater, sand, stones and other matter, was taken to secure storage sites near the Donges refinery for treatment.

Of the 30,884 metric tons of cargo: