| VESSELS GROUNDING OFF KASHIMA | ||
Less than two weeks after the loss of the Capesize Ore Carrier M.V.Giant Step that ran ground after catching fire in rough seas off Kashima on 6th October 2006, bad weather has brought about the grounding of two large bulk carriers at the same Japanese port. The 175,000dwt, M.V. Ocean Victory ran aground just outside the breakwater on the afternoon on 25th October 2006 after discharging part of its 170,000t ore cargo, loaded in South Africa. The vessel’s master reportedly, decided to move the vessel away from the terminal halfway through discharging as a precaution against strong winds and high waves from a passing depression. On the same day at around 2000hrs local time, the Panamanian M.V. Ellida Ace, carrying 160,000 tonnes of iron ore from Canada ran aground close to the northern end of Kashima breakwater.
Japan Coast Guard (JCG) confirmed all 24 crew of the Ocean Victory and 20 Filipino seamen from Ellida Ace escaped were |
airlifted by helicopters and escaped unhurt unlike in the case of Giant Step where not all crew members were rescued and sources allege 9 are still missing and 1 pronounced dead.
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OIL BARGE SINKS NEAR KARACHI COAST |
A barge belonging to a private Pakistani company reportedly sank in the open sea near the Port of Karachi on the evening of 6th October 2006, about 3 kilometres, southwest of the port. |
Its crew members were rescued and traffic was not affected by the incident. However, some of the oil on board had begun to leak into the sea but the bulk of the 65 tonnes of oil was emptied before any major spill occurred. |
RUSSIA TO BUILD FLOATING NUCLEAR POWER PLANT |
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Rosenergoatom, a Russian nuclear energy company, is reportedly planning to begin construction on a floating nuclear power plant next year, despite concerns raised by environmental groups. According to press releases, the barge is due to begin delivering electricity to 200,000 people in the port city of Severodvinsk by 2010, in the southeastern White Sea where harsh weather makes regular coal and oil fuel deliveries unreliable and expensive. The company will mount two reactors on a football-field-size barge, float it to a port, connect power lines to the mainland, and turn on the reactors, providing communities with affordable electricity. The plant will store waste and spent fuel in an onboard facility that workers will empty every 10 to 12 years during regular maintenance overhauls. Environmentalists on the other hand are concerned about potential problems as the safety of the proposed facility is still unknown. But Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia’s Federal Atomic Power Agency has allegedly dismissed such concerns and was reported to having said “There will be no floating Chernobyl”, referring to the world’s worst ever nuclear disaster, which occurred in 1986 in Ukraine. |
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