Card thrown from tanker in 1976 washes up on isle beach

A CARD thrown into the sea after an oil tanker sank nearly 50 years ago has turned up 3,000 miles away on a Hebridean island.

- By Mike Merritt

The Argo Merchant caused one of the largest spills in maritime history when she ran aground off the Massachusetts coast in December 1976.

The Liberian-registered vessel had been en route from Venezuela to Boston when the incident happened.

A week after she became stuck off the coast of Nantucket Island, the tanker broke up, disgorging eight million gallons of fuel oil into the North Atlantic.

However, winds blew the slick away from the coast and therefore prevented an environmental disaster.