Oil slicks in coastal water when the Amoco Cadiz, a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier), split in two after running aground on Portsail Rocks, off the coast of Brittany, France, on March 16, 1978. The first large oil spill in history with 1.6 million barrels of crude polluting the sea, estuaries, bays and beaches - soiling 300 kms shoreline of Northwestern France.