Kirki (tanker)

The Kirki was a 210-metre-long Greek-registered oil tanker which caught fire on 21 July 1991, 30 km west of the fishing town of Cervantes, Western Australia.[1] The fire resulted in the ship's bow tearing off, rupturing the forward storage tanks and causing an oil spill initially estimated at 2.9 million gallons.[2] The oil caught fire above the water approximately six times, due to electrical cables that were sparking on the severed part of the bow. The crew sent out a distress call and were quickly rescued by Australian authorities. The ship was towed to Cape Preston where the majority of the light crude oil and heavy fuel oil were pumped to another tanker. Kirki was then towed to Singapore. At the time it was the worst oil spill to have occurred in Australian waters. [3]

The incident was the subject of the famous Clarke & Dawe sketch, "The Front Fell Off" from A Current Affair.[4]

References
  1. "Kirki, Western Australia, 21 July 1991". Australian Maritime Safety Authority. Australian Government. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  2. "Burning Tanker Spills Oil in Waters off Perth". The New York Times. 1991-07-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  3. "Kirki oil transfer near completion". The Canberra Times. 16 Aug 1991. Retrieved 2016-04-21 – via Trove.
  4. Clarke and Dawe. "The Front Fell Off". YouTube. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
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