What happened

The cargo ship Ultra Galaxy developed a severe list, was abandoned by its 18 crew and grounded on South Africa's remote west coast. Repeated winter storms broke the vessel apart and breached its fuel tanks. SAMSA reported that the ship had carried 332 tonnes of very-low-sulfur fuel oil and 180 tonnes of marine gas oil; only eight tonnes were removed before roughly 500 tonnes of fuel and other oils spilled, mostly washing onto the adjacent beach. More than 200 personnel joined the clean-up, and later surveys found no visible contamination beyond the immediate response area.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.