Thirty years ago today, on February 15, 1995, the tranquillity of Pembrokeshire’s coast was shattered when the oil tanker Sea Empress ran aground at the entrance to Milford Haven.
What followed was one of the worst environmental disasters in British history – a slick of crude oil that fouled beaches from St Ann’s Head to Tenby and Saundersfoot, left thousands of seabirds dead, and transformed the way the UK responds to maritime spills.
The massive spill brought unfounded fears for the future of Pembrokeshire’s tourist industry. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photography)
At 8.07pm on 15 February 1996, the 147,000‑tonne tanker struck rocks at St Anne’s Head while carrying North Sea crude to the Texaco refinery. Over six days, more than 70,000 tonnes of oil leaked into the sea before salvage teams regained control.
The polluted sea rolls into Tenby’s North Beach. (Image: Gareth Davies Photography)
Locals and emergency workers still recall the images with a shudder – blackened cliffs, oiled seabirds being washed by desperate volunteers, and the heavy smell of fuel on the wind.
The mopping-up operation – pictured here at West Angle Bay – extended around the coastline. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photographyaphy)
In Tenby, just weeks away from the start of another tourist season, the sea rolled in like rusty chocolate. The once golden beaches were off-limits as the massive clean-up operation swung into place and thanks to its gargantuan efforts, the main holiday beaches were opened to visitors by Easter.
Naturalist and broadcaster Iolo Williams, who covered the aftermath as a young conservation officer, said the event “woke up a nation that had forgotten how fragile its coastlines really are.”
The stricken Sea Empress pictured off St Ann’s Head at the entrance to the Milford Haven waterway. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photography)
The Springwatch host said the disaster was the “worst event” he’s ever witnessed.
His comments were made in a new S4C documentary to mark 30 years since what was at the time one of the largest oil spills in the world.
The thousands of oiled seabirds were a heartbreaking sight. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photography)
Dŵr Du: Trychineb y Sea Empress (Black Water: The Sea Empress Disaster) was broadcast earlier this month on S4C and is available to watch on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer, with Welsh and English subtitles.
The clean-up operation in Manorbier. (Image: Gareth Davies Photography)
“I can still picture Skomer’s guillemots covered in oil and volunteers working through the night trying to save them,” Iolo said. “But what stayed with me most was the community spirit – people from all walks of life turning up with buckets, brushes and hope.”
According to Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the recovery of local ecosystems has been a bittersweet success story.
The mopping-up operation – pictured here at West Angle Bay – extended around the coastline. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photographyaphy)
“Nature is remarkably resilient,” an NRW spokesperson said, “yet the Sea Empress taught us that recovery takes decades, not years. Seabird populations and rocky shorelines still bear subtle scars, but the lessons learned underpin much of our current coastal protection policy.”
The badly-oiled seabird held by RSPCA Inspector Neil Tysall was just one of thousands affected by the disaster. (Image: Gareth Davies Photography)
The RSPCA, which led one of its largest wildlife rescue efforts during the spill, continues to mark the anniversary.
“We treated more than 7,000 affected birds in 1996,” said a spokesperson from the organisation. “Those scenes at our makeshift centres have never left us. It changed how we train rescuers and how we respond to coastal pollution today.”
This evening at 6pm,, BBC’s Countryfile will present a special programme on the disaster, featuring archive footage and interviews with rescuers, and expert analysis on how the event reshaped conservation policy.
Meanwhile, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich is marking the anniversary with an exhibition featuring a section of the hull from the Sea Empress oil tanker,
The stricken Sea Empress dwarfs the tugs attempting its rescue. (Image: Gareth Davies Photography)
Milford Haven Port Authority was originally fined a record £4 million in January 1999 for causing water pollution, following the Sea Empress spill. The fine was reduced to £750,000 in March 2000 by the Court of Appeal, which deemed the initial amount “manifestly excessive”.
Today, stringent safety measures, advanced navigation technology and environmental response planning are direct legacies of 1996.
“It’s easy to focus on what was lost,” Iolo Williams added, “But we also gained something – a deeper respect for our marine environment. The Sea Empress was a tragedy, but it made Pembrokeshire a leader in marine conservation.”
