The Ievoli Sun was a chemical tanker

Chemical tanker

A chemical tanker is a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk.Ocean-going chemical tankers generally range from to in size, which is considerably smaller than the average size of other tanker types due to the specialised nature of their cargoes and the size restrictions of the...

 chartered by Neapolitan

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 ship-owner Domenico Ievoli. On 31 October 2000, she sank at 49°52′00"N 02°24′00"W, approximatively 9 nautical miles off the Casquets

Casquets

Les Casquets or Casquets is a group of rocks 13 km northwest of Alderney and are part of an underwater sandstone ridge. Other parts which emerge above the water are the islets of Burhou and Ortac. Little vegetation grows on them...

 in the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

, with a 6,000-tonne load, including 4,000 tonnes of styrene, 1,000 tonnes of trichlorosilane

Trichlorosilane

Trichlorosilane is a chemical compound containing silicon, hydrogen, and chlorine. At high temperatures, it decomposes to produce silicon, and therefore purified trichlorosilane is the principal source of ultrapure silicon in the semiconductor industry. In water, it rapidly decomposes to produce...

 and 1,000 tonnes of isopropyl alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol is a common name for a chemical compound with the molecular formula C3H8O. It is a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor...

.

The wreckage was caused by bad weather, and water intake at the bow, which filled the forware storage area and the bow thruster

Bow thruster

A bow thruster is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, the bow of a ship or boat to make it more maneuverable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow the captain to turn the vessel to port or starboard without using the main propulsion mechanism which requires...

 bay. The increase in weight caused a negative pitch, which worsened while more compartments filled.

A distress call was received by the CROSS

Centres Régionaux Opérationnels de Surveillance et de Sauvetage

The Centres Régionaux Opérationnels de Surveillance et de Sauvetage are a network of stations on the litoral of France.Their missions are* Search and Rescue* Monitoring of sea traffic...

 at 04:30. At 07:17, a Super Frelon

Aérospatiale Super Frelon

The Aérospatiale SA 321 Super Frelon is a three-engined heavy transport helicopter produced by Aérospatiale of France. The helicopter is still in use in China where the locally produced version is known as the Z-8. "Frelon" is French for hornet....

 of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

 departed to evacuate the 14-man crew of the tanker, amid 65 knots (127.4 km/h) winds. An hour later, the helicopter arrived on the scene, and evacuated the crew in 40 minutes. The Abeille Flandre

Abeille Flandre

The Abeille Flandre is a high sea tug of the French Navy. She is the property of the French private company Abeilles International, and had been operated by the French Navy since December 1979....

arrived and started tugging the tanker at 4 knots (7.8 km/h) toward Normandy.

The next day in the morning, the Ievoli Sun sank. The aviso

Aviso

An aviso , a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, survives particularly in the French navy, they are considered equivalent to the modern sloop....

 Lieutenant de vaisseau Lavallée

D'Estienne d'Orves class

The A69 type Avisos are small warships mainly designed for coastal anti-submarine defence, but are also available for high sea escort missions . Built on a simple and robust design, they have an economical and reliable propulsion system which allows them to be used for overseas presence missions...

and the minesweeper Céphée

Tripartite class minehunter

The Tripartite class is a class of mine warfare vessel used by the navies of Belgium, France and the Netherlands, as well as Pakistan, Indonesia, Latvia, and Bulgaria.-Description:...

were sent on the scene to reinforce the Abeille Flandre and monitor pollution. Only small traces of chemicals were noticed.

External links

• Total Loss of the Italian Chemical Tanker Ievoli Sun in the English Channel - 30 October 2000 - Bureau d'Enquêtes sur les Événements de Mer
  Bureau d'Enquêtes sur les Événements de Mer
  Bureau d'Enquêtes sur les Événements de Mer is the French agency that investigates accidents and incidents of ships....
  
   Perte totale du navire Chimiquier italien IEVOLI SUN and annexes. - Bureau d'Enquêtes sur les Événements de Mer
  Bureau d'Enquêtes sur les Événements de Mer
  Bureau d'Enquêtes sur les Événements de Mer is the French agency that investigates accidents and incidents of ships....
  
  Naufrage du Ievoli Sun on polmar.com