Irenes Serenade

Irenes Serenade was an oil tanker that caught fire, exploded, and sank in Navarino Bay, Greece, in February, 1980. It was one of the largest oil spills in history.
The ship, owned by Tsakos Shipping Company, was traveling from Syria to Trieste, Italy loaded with over of Iraqi crude oil. It approached Navarino Bay to refuel on February 23. While maneuvering into the bay, fire broke out on the ship, followed by an explosion. It burned for 14 hours. The ship was still in flames when it sank off Sfaktiria Island the next day.
Two of the 31 person crew were killed in the explosion. A local fisherman saw the explosion and helped to save the other 29 crew members. Local fishermen also attempted to collect the oil in their boats and to transfer it into road tankers. They were not very successful. Six oil recovery vessels arrived to manage the marine pollution. Of the of oil on the Irenes Serenade, spilled into the bay. An estimated were consumed by fire and evaporated.
The Irenes Serenade was built in 1965 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique and was previously named Aldebaran. In 2011, Greek researchers used remote sensing to image the shipwreck.