SALVAGE CODE RED

January 1993: The Braer runs aground off Shetland, Scotland

Travelling from Norway to Canada in January 1993, the Liberian-registered supertanker Braer encountered hurricane-force winds off the Shetland Islands and ran aground. Though all the crew were evacuated via rescue helicopter, 85,000 tonnes of crude oil spilled. The North Sea is fierce in January and the clean-up operation was severely hampered by a month-long storm that made access to the ship and the site difficult. However, the bad weather did have one positive effect in that it helped to disperse the massive oil slick caused by the incident. However, more than 6,500 sea birds are believed to have been oiled as a result.