Man born the night his father died among Betelgeuse mourners

A MAN who was born on the night his father died in Ireland’s worst maritime disaster will be among those attending a special commemorative event next month to mark the 30th anniversary of the tragedy.

Liam Shanahan, who turns 30 on January 8 next, will spend the day in Bantry as people gather to remember his father and the others who were killed in the 1979 Whiddy Island disaster in Bantry bay.

The commemorations will feature a Mass and wreath-laying ceremony.

Dozens of French nationals, whose relatives died in the disaster, are also expected to travel to Bantry.

A total of 50 people — 42 French nationals, seven Irish nationals and one Briton — died in the early hours of January 8, 1979, when the 11-year-old Betelgeuse oil tanker exploded as it off-loaded its oil at the offshore jetty at Whiddy Island.

The force of the initial explosion blew men from the jetty into the sea.

The Betelgeuse became engulfed in a ball of fire and a series of further explosions broke the vessel in half, igniting the oil cargo still on board.

Temperatures reached an estimated 1,000C sending giant plumes of thick black smoke billowing hundreds of feet into the air.

Firefighters couldn’t get close to the burning ship and fought to prevent the other blazes spreading to oil storage areas elsewhere on the island.

It was two weeks before clouds of toxic and inflammable gas cleared to allow the recovery of bodies to begin. Only 27 were found.

Liam’s father, Liam Snr, from Ballydehob was among those who died.

In a tragic twist of fate, Liam Snr’s wife was giving birth in Bantry hospital just a few miles away as the disaster was unfolding.

And one of the few original Gulf Oil employees, Joe Tobin, who still works at the terminal, will also attend the commemorative event.

It will be his last working day as he is due to retire.

A Betelgeuse memorial stands in the grounds of St Finbarr’s Church graveyard, overlooking Bantry harbour.