The cargo ship sank in the Atlantic Ocean 820 nautical miles (1,520 km) south west of Land's End, Cornwall, United Kingdom with the loss of all twelve crew.[7]
The anchor handling tug supply vessel foundered in heavy seas in a position 53.01.45N 01.32.06E, 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) from Haisboro’ light vessel, off the coast of Norfolk, England, on a voyage from Great Yarmouth to Norway. All 13 aboard were taken off liferafts by helicopter.[8]
The trawler ran ashore on the Cressars Rock, Penzance, Cornwall in a SW gale after steering the wrong side of the pole. Refloated by the Penlee Lifeboat.[9]
Iran–Iraq War: The supertanker was hit by an Iranian missile in the Strait of Hormuz and set on fire.[15] Subsequently repaired and returned to service.
The submarine had an on-board fire while submerged 160 nautical miles (300 km) off the coast of Florida. She surfaced and her crew abandoned with the loss of three crew members. She was towed to Charleston, South Carolina, where she was declared a constructive total loss. She was scrapped in August 1989.
Blowout and fire in the North Sea with the loss of a crew member. Subsequently withdrawn from service, converted to a seaborne satellite launch vessel in 1997.
The 92-foot (28.0 m) crab-fishing vessel ran aground without loss of life on the north side of the western tip of Atka Island in the Aleutian Islands after her helmsman fell asleep at her wheel.[2]
The destroyer, under tow from Murmansk to Spain for scrapping, broke her tow line and ran aground on Skogsøya in Øksnes Municipality, Norway. Work on scrapping the wreck only began in 2001,[50] and the breaking of the wreck was then further delayed by the find of live munitions on board.[51]
The 115-foot (35.1 m) fishing trawlercapsized and sank in the Bering Sea approximately 55 nautical miles (102 km; 63 mi) north of Unimak Pass after a large wave struck her. Her crew of five abandoned ship on a life raft, but two of them perished when another large wave struck the raft and swept them overboard. The fishing vesselAmerican Beauty (United States) rescued her three surviving crew members.[11]
In the evening, the fishing trawler ran aground near Seaford, United Kingdom. The five Belgian sailors were rescued by the British coastguard.[55]
23 December
List of shipwrecks: 23 December 1988
Ship
State
Description
The oil tanker without engine lost its anchor due to a storm. The 34 crew members were saved after five hours. The tanker served as a collection and storage facility for oil. The production of three oil fields on the British part of the North Sea came to a standstill for a long time.[55]
The Norwegian built coastal trading vessel, sailing under the flag of Honduras was on voyage from Bergen, Norway to Antwerp, Belgium with a cargo of steel. The ship sank near Texel, the Netherlands, after the ship tilted due to shifting cargo. All crew members survived by sprinting into the water. Criticism of the rescue operation followed.[56]
The ferry collided with a tanker in foggy weather and sank in the Dhaleswari River at its confluence with the Sitalakhya River with the loss of over 200 of the 350 people on board.[57]
A merchant ship of Panama went missing in the Japanese Sea. After it was missing for eight days, the Japanese Coast gusts started a search operation on 24 December.[55]
