| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Ievoli Sun |
| Fate: | Sank on 31 October 2000 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 211,469 tons (214,862 metric tons) |
| Length: | 115.65 m |
| Beam: | 17.51 m |
| Draught: | 6.29 m |
| Speed: | 13.8 knots (25.6 km/h) |
| Crew: | 14 |
The Ievoli Sun was a chemical tanker chartered by Neapolitan ship-owner Domenico Ievoli. On 31 October 2000, she sank at , approximatively 9 nautical miles off the Casquets in the English Channel, with a 6,000-tonne load, including 4,000 tonnes of styrene, 1,000 tonnes of trichlorosilane and 1,000 tonnes of isopropyl alcohol.
The wreckage was caused by bad weather, and water intake at the bow, which filled the forware storage area and the bow thruster bay. The increase in weight caused a negative pitch, which worsened while more compartments filled.
A distress call was received by the CROSS at 04:30. At 07:17, a Super Frelon of the French Navy departed to evacuate the 14-man crew of the tanker, amid 65-knot (120 km/h) winds. An hour later, the helicopter arrived on the scene, and evacuated the crew in 40 minutes. The Abeille Flandre arrived and started tugging the tanker at 4 knots (7.4 km/h) toward Normandy.
The next day in the morning, the Ievoli Sun sank. The aviso Lieutenant de vaisseau Lavallée and the minesweeper Céphée were sent on the scene to reinforce the Abeille Flandre and monitor pollution. Only small traces of chemicals were noticed.