Castillo de Salas (Ship)

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Coordinates: 43°33′20″N, 5°39′40″W

The Castillo de Salas was a bulk carrier that was launched to sea in Ferrol in August, 1980. It weighed over 50,000 tons, displaced over 100,000 tons of water, measured approximately 250 metres (820.2 feet) in length, 40 metres (131.2 feet) across the beam, and 14.5 metres (47.57 feet) in draft. It required a crew complement of 32.

Contents 1 Disaster 2 Second salvage of the stern section 3 Trophies 4 Side effects 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External Multimedia Links

[edit] Disaster

During the morning of January 11, 1986 the bulk carrier Castillo de Salas, property of the Spanish company "ElCano",^[1] ran aground over rocks 740 metres North/North-west of Gijon. The ship was anchored outside Gijon's seaport (El Musel) when the ship's anchor came loose in bad weather. Efforts to re-anchor, self-propel and even tow the ship away from the coast failed due to harsh seas. The cargo was nearly 100,000 metric tonnes of coal loaded in Norfolk, Virginia as well as over 1000 tonnes of fuel-oil used for propulsion.

On January 15, 1986 the hull broke in two during efforts to bring the ship afloat, therefore releasing a spil of diesel oil and coal ore.

On February 23, 1986 the bow half of the hull was refloated, towed 39 miles into the sea and scuttled in waters of 4000 metres in depth. Officials stated that no diesel oil was left in the bow section of the hull. During the following spring, the company "Fondomar" was tasked with scrapping the remainder of the stern portion of the hull.^[2]

[edit] Second salvage of the stern section

Small balls of decomposed oil were found sporadicly since the wreckage until 2001, when a major find of these balls was confirmed to be from fuel remaining in the double bottom fuel tank of the stern section that was not removed in 1986. This led to a second salvage operation to remove the fuel during 2001-2002 ^[3] and the complete the removal of the remainder of the wreck in 2003 due to public out-cry. ^[4][5][6]

[edit] Trophies

On November 15, 2003 Gijon artist Joaquin Rubio Camin's sculpture "Memory" was unveiled on the Camino del Cervigon overlooking the sea. The sculpture was made using part of the remains of the "Castillo de Salas" which sank off Gijon and were recovered earlier in the year.^{[7] [8] [9]}

One of the ship's anchors is displayed in "Philippe Cousteau's Anchor Museum" in Salinas beach, Spain, 30 km west of Gijon. ^[10]

[edit] Side effects

Since accident, it is common to find dark sand contaminated with coal on the beaches in the Bay of Gijon, particularly after rough sea conditions. The amounts recovered continue to reduce over time, but patches of dark coloured sand, high in black coal particles, can be seen at low tide. ^[9][11][12]

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• (Spanish) del Castillo de Salas
• del Castillo de Salas (English and Spanish)
• with Joaquin Rubio Camin about his sculpture
• at the remains of Castillo de Salas (English)

[edit] External Multimedia Links

• from Salvage company Titan of "Castillo de Salas" in 2003