Captain Billy Earle Smith:CAPTAIN BILLY Earle Smith of Kerrville in Texas, who died aged 83 on March 24th, following a lengthy struggle with dementia, took over as general manager of the Gulf Oil terminal on Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay in the immediate wake of the Betelgeuse disaster of January 8th 1979, which claimed the lives of 50 people.
A second World War merchant marine combat veteran, Capt Smith was the multinational's leading expert on dealing with the aftermath of marine disasters.
In the course of his 32-year career with the Gulf Oil Corporation (now Chevron), he managed the multinational's tanker fleet and also led its maritime disaster response team.
Due to his expertise in the area, he was consulted during a Congressional Committee review of oil spills and the marine environment.
Against this backdrop, he arrived on Whiddy Island following the Betelgeuse explosion with the expressed aim of getting the crippled deepwater terminal back in business as a going concern. Capable of handling the world's largest crude oil tankers, Whiddy had long been a key element of Gulf's global operations.
However, just as the three-year recovery project was on the point of being finalised under Capt Smith, the corporation was taken over by Chevron.
And, in the way of such things, the Whiddy facility was deemed surplus to Chevron's requirements and sold off to Conocophillips which currently runs the terminal along with the Republic's only oil refinery at Whitegate in east Cork. Besides holding Ireland's national oil reserve, Whiddy is still a busy international oil trading and storage facility, employing around 35 people.
In its heyday, the Bantry terminal was among the world's deepest and most profitable terminals. Captain Smith's objective was to revitalise the Bantry oil-transhipment operation.
Initially, oil from the Middle East had been offloaded there for transhipment to European refineries in smaller vessels and the closure of the Suez Canal in 1967 as a result of the Six Day War reinforced its economic viability.
However, by the late 1970s, the economics of the oil business had changed dramatically and Gulf Oil was struggling to maintain the viability of Whiddy.
On Monday, January 8th 1979, the French-registered tanker Betelgeuse exploded off Whiddy Island while offloading its cargo of crude oil. 42 French crew, seven Irish workers and one Englishman died in the accident. Only 27 bodies were recovered.
The scale of the disaster was worsened by the lack of access to the offshore concrete jetty. Workers could not escape the burning oil, and rescuers and firefighters could not get near the site.
A Dutch diver was lost during the salvage operation.
Rather than rebuild the jetty, Capt Smith was to set up a single-buoy mooring facility enabling oil to be transferred through quick-release hoses from tankers into giant storage tanks on the island. Had the original jetty been restored, authorities required that it be connected directly to the island.
Today, twisted and blackened, the remains of the old jetty jut out from the sea.
Responsibility for this eyesore in Bantry Bay currently lies with the Irish Government.
Besides overseeing the restoration of the terminal, Capt Smith also played a background role in the settlement of multi-million punt insurance claims from local fishermen, tourism interests and land owners whose livelihoods had been damaged by the pollution.
Despite the tragic events which brought him to Ireland, he involved himself in the social life of the town, and was a popular member of Bantry Golf Club.
An exceptional shot and a keen angler, he never missed a chance to go hunting, shooting and fishing in the mountains, boglands, rivers and lakes of the southwest. Back in America, he spent many an hour of his retirement spinning tales of hunting and fishing in Ireland.
A resident of Gillespie County, Texas, since 1983, he served as president of the Hill Country Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution from 1990-1992. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Kathryn and sons Dr Robert Smith of Corpus Christi, Texas and Captain Charles Smith of San Antonio, Texas.
Captain Billy Smith: born November 30th, 1924; died March 24th, 2008.