Australian Oil Leak Disaster – Update April 5

Serial No  1,537. If any posts are blocked in your country, please drop us a line.

Leaky Chinese bulk coal carrier Shen Neng 1 assessed for salvage

Background:  Another Oil Leak Nightmare Made in Australia

Images of the 230-meter long coal tanker Shen Neng 1, which ran aground on a reef about 70km east of Great Keppel Island, off the coast of Queensland, Australia, were taken by Maritime Safety Queensland on Sunday (p.m.), 4 April 2010. Images may be subject to copyright. Click images to enlarge.

The 230-meter (754-ft) coal tanker Shen Neng 1 was carrying 65,000 tons of coal to China, with 975 tons of heavy fuel oil on board. Based on all the information available, and in all probability, the vessel could break apart causing an even larger disaster.

The following News Release is by Maritime Safety Queensland:

Ship grounding off Central Queensland – 6:00am update (5 April 2010)

Professional salvors are onboard the Shen Neng 1 this morning to begin the process of salvaging the grounded Chinese bulk coal carrier.

They are part of the salvage contract and more will arrive this morning – they will assess the structural integrity of the ship and options for refloating.

The Shen Neng 1 ran aground about 70km east of Great Keppel Island just after 5pm on Saturday with approximately 975 tonnes of heavy fuel oil onboard.

Maritime Safety Queensland General Manager, Patrick Quirk, said the initial damage report was that the main engine room was breached, the main engine damaged and the rudder seriously damaged.

“One of the most worrying aspects is that the ship is still moving on the reef to the action of the seas, which is doing further damage,” he said.

“MSQ have aircraft in the air now doing an assessment, although the hope is that little oil escaped through the night.

“We also have helicopters surveying the coast to prepare early planning in the event of needing to get equipment onto the beach.

“A second tug is due to arrive in the early afternoon to assist the specialised tug already there to stabilise the vessel,” Mr Quirk said.

He said dispersants were deployed yesterday on oil leaking from the carrier.

Dispersants are most effective in breaking up heavy oil when deployed within 24-48 hours.

Related Links:

• Another Oil Leak Nightmare Made in Australia
• Disasters Caused by Oil and gas Drilling, Oil Spills, Leaks, Land, Water and Air Pollution
• The Australian Clean Energy Ruse
  

China Officials’ April Hoax

Serial No  1,536. If any posts are blocked in your country, please drop us a line.

submitted by a [skeptical] reader

Real Miracle, or Rigor Mortis

A few days later than most countries customarily commission their April Fool’s Day hoaxes and play practical jokes, some Chines officials decided to do theirs. Well, China dose have a different calendar.

More than a week after 154 miners were trapped in Wangjialing coalmine in north China’s Shanxi Province, the officials announced that they had rescued  77  of them!

Then again, may be it wasn’t a hoax, but the definition of life and death must vary in different cultures.

Because the only sign of life, or death, this writer saw was in an official video clip played on CNN. As the rescue workers carried the “rescued miners” out of the coalmine, a pair of bare, blackened feet stuck out from underneath a thick blanket covering one of the stretchers. Judging by the way they swayed from side to side with the movement of the stretcher, the feet looked as if they were in the advanced stages of  rigor mortis.

Freeze Frame from CCTV. Image may be subject to copyright.

“A [real] miracle has finally happened. We believe that more miracles will happen.” Said Liu Dezheng on Monday morning, after the first nine miners were taken out.

[NOTE: We hope the writer is mistaken. However, as of posting, Fire Earth Moderators couldn’t independently verify how many miners were carried alive out of the Wangjialing coalmine.]