The tanker that caused the 1967 oil spill off the coast of England was the Torrey Canyon.
The supertanker ran aground on Pollard’s Rock on the Seven Stones reef, between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, on 18 March 1967. It was carrying crude oil from Kuwait to Milford Haven in Wales when a navigational error and confusion over the ship’s steering contributed to the disaster.
The wreck released an estimated 25–36 million gallons of crude oil, contaminating coastlines in Britain, France, Guernsey and Spain. British authorities used large quantities of chemical dispersants, then ordered air attacks with bombs, kerosene and napalm in an attempt to burn the remaining oil.
The Torrey Canyon disaster was a landmark in environmental and maritime history. It helped prompt stricter international rules on oil-pollution liability and emergency response. It is often confused with later disasters such as the Amoco Cadiz spill in 1978 or the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.