On the afternoon of the 20th June 1994, the Chinese ore carrier, the Apollo Sea left Saldanha Bay. Four hours later the Apollo Sea sent two distress signals to China and was not heard from again. South African authorities were notified of the sinking only 5 days laters. It was established that the vessel had sunk together with all its 36 crew members (in the same spot as oil was visibly surfacing), at a depth of 180m, with 2470 tons of fuel oil on board.
South Africans were unaware of the Apollo Sea's troubles, and the first sign of the oil spill was when oil-soaked penguins came ashore on Dassen Island on the 22nd June 1994. What followed was the biggest rescue of penguins ever carried out in South Africa. The amenities in the area were heavily polluted, and clean-up operations lasted four months.
In August 1983 the 271 540 ton Spanish oiltanker, the Castillo de Bellver, caught fire after an explosion on board and split in two; 46 miles west of Dassen Island. It was carrying 200 000 tons of oil on board. Three of the 36-man crew died in the explosion.
The aft-section of the ship sank about 27 sea-miles west of Yzerfontein (with 10 000 tons of oil on board). The forward section was towed 230km off the coast by the tugboat, the John Ross, it was blown up and sank in 3km deep water.
The Fong Shong 22 was a Taiwanese fishing vessel which ran aground off Dassen Island in April 1976.
The Harvest Pluto was a 199 ton South African fishing vessel which collided and sank 50 miles west of Dassen Island in August 1974.
The Agis Asteriadis was a Greek freighter of 10 000 tonnage, which had its hull damaged off Dassen Island in August 1969, and was then towed to Cape Town.
The Danie Hugo was a South African barge of 812 tonnage which grounded off Dassen Island in December 1966, but was refloated and repaired in Cape Town.
The Southern Author was a 40 ton South African fishing vessel which grounded off Dassen Island in June 1961.
The Caroline was a South African fishing vessel of 50 tonnage wrecked off Dassen Island in October 1947.
U-179 was a German submarine IXD-42 of 1 804 tons which was sunk by the British light cruiser HMS Active, 60 miles west of Dassen Island, in October 1942.
The Oklahoman was a 5 508 ton United States vessel which was grounded off Dassen Island, refloated and sank 1.25 miles west of Robben Island in July 1942.
The City of Athens was a British vessel which struck a mine and sank off Dassen Island in August 1917.
The Cilicia was a British vessel which struck a mine and sunk, off Dassen Island in February 1917.
The Matheran was a 7654 ton British vessel which struck a mine and sunk, off Dassen Island in January 1917.
The Cerne was a Bucket Dredger of 700 tonnage which ran aground off Dassen Island in January 1909.
The Haab was a 798 ton Barque which grounded on Dassen Island in October 1897.
The Rising Star was grounded off Dassen Island in March 1893.
The Wallarah was a 3 505 ton vessel which was grounded in fog off Dassen Island on her maiden voyage in July 1891.
The Prince was grounded of Ysterfontein Point in December 1890.
The Ashleigh Brook was a 2 683 ton steamer which ran aground off Dassen Island in May 1890.
The Strathmore was a 500 ton barque which sank 0.5 miles off Dassen Island in September 1880.
The Windsor Castle was a 2 672 ton steamer which grounded off Dassen Island in October 1876. After the ship struck Dassen Island, Jasmes Searle and a British army lieutenant rowed 8 kilometres to the mainland. There they obtained horses and galloped a further 24km to Darling, where they procured a passenger cart and horses. Finally, they rode 80km to Cape Town and were able to alert shipping authorities, who sent help to the rest of the passengers.
The Roman was a steamer grounded off Dassen Island in June 1873.
The Queen of Ava was a British wooden barque of 422t, built in 1853 at Sunderland. It was commanded by Captain J Petherick, and wrecked on the north side of Dassen Island on 29 October 1865 while on voyage from Cardiff to Table Bay with a cargo of coal. The captain and crew landed on Dassen Island and were brought to Table Bay by a cutter. No lives were lost.
The Fleetwood was a barque which ran aground off Dassen Island in June 1865.
In 1850, the Childe Herold, a 463-ton British wooden ship was grounded off Dassen Island. It was on its way to London from Bombay and carried in excess of 1300 ivory pieces.
The Conservative was a brig of 250 tonnage grounded off Yzterfontein in March 1843.
The Shylock was a cutter which grounded off Dassen Island in March 1839.
The Lady Holland grounded off Dassen Island in February 1830.
The Haagman was a whaler which grounded off Dassen Island in December 1683.
The Scholvert sank between Robben Island and Dassen Island in May 1668.