In the photos, can you see a ship in the background? Yes, it’s the British container ship Tollan and it’s upside down in the middle of the Tagus River, after an accident on the foggy morning of February 16, 1980, when it collided with the Swedish freighter Barranduna.
The tragic accident, in which four of the 16 crew members died, happened due to the dense fog that Lisbon morning and the alleged overloading of the Tollan, which suffered a breach in its hull and sank in front of Terreiro do Paço, where it remained for almost four long years, until December 2, 1983.
From tragedy to tourist attraction
After the shipwreck, the Tollan’s hull was turned upside down, and for several years it floated along the banks of the Tagus, quickly becoming a reason to visit the Portuguese capital.
Its fame was such that the word “tolan” (with only one “l”) quickly entered everyday life and Lisbon humor, gaining the meaning of “stranded” , among many other uses in song lyrics and jokes.
For example, singles’ dinners came to be called “Tollan dinners”, and even a restaurant gave its name to the famous container ship, the Tolan Restaurant on Rua dos Remédios (which still exists) in the typical Alfama district.
The Tollan’s legacy to Lisbon
The Tollan was stranded in the Tagus for almost four years, with several attempts to remove it proving unsuccessful due to the size of the ship and the fact that there were no adequate resources in Portugal for such a large-scale operation.
A true social phenomenon in 1980s Lisbon, their presence in our waters began to prove a danger to navigation, with an accident involving a Lisbon ferryboat in the very first year.
It wasn’t until December 1983 that a large floating crane from a German company was used to turn the ship around and tow it to the banks of the Tagus (Poço do Bispo) to be dismantled, thus bidding farewell to the city’s original river landmark . This giant logistical operation is said to have cost almost a million dollars.
The story of this shipwreck in the middle of the Tagus River was more than just an “event”. It turned out to be a portrait of life in big cities, where national resilience and humor became, in a way, an unforgettable cultural reference.
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