With its preliminary investigation confirming the "Desh Shakti"’s involvement in the hit and run of the fishing boat "Oceanic", the Coastal police have taken the captain and two crew members of the tanker into custody. Captain B.S. Ahluwalia of New Delhi, second officer Nandakishore Gaaru of Rajasthan and seaman Rajkumar of Bihar, who were in command of the ship at the time of collision, will be subjected to a thorough interrogation. Upon examining the location map and navigational records of the ship, the ship’s presence at the spot where the collision took place on August 7 oould be confirmed. The seamen will be brought to Kochi in the night of Aug 14. The investigation team, during an underwater survey at the bottom of the ship, found scratches on its hull, besides paint samples of the sunken fishing vessel. These evidences prima facie established the involvement of the tanker in the accident. Marine Enforcement Wing officials are examining reports of a body being spotted by a fishing boat off the Alappuzha coast on Aug 14.

The "George H. Legtor" capsized in the Fraser River between Vancouver and Richmond on Aug 13, 2018, around 11 p.m., just east of Vancouver International Airport. There were four crew members aboard the vessel and all were rescued by the crew on the nearby tug "Westview Chinook". The capsized vessel was part of a gravel tug-and-tow operation, but it was not towing a barge at the time. The vessel was about three-quarters submerged and has been secured to pilings. The ship had a maximum capacity of 22 tons diesel. Booms and absorbent pads have been placed around the vessel by the Coast guard and Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, the organization responsible for responding to oil spills along the B.C. coast. The Western Canada Marine Response has been retained by Ledcor, which operates the tug, and about 15 bags of the absorbent pads have already been collected. The pads were put in place when there a light sheen on the water but he it was impossible to tell how much diesel they soaked up There was a crane on site and divers have already been down to see the tug and they have been down again to assess how it may be lifted. Report with photo and video: https://www.ctvnews.ca/ca...

Municipal authorities in the Belgian city of Antwerp were forced yesterday to evacuate all people and ships within an 1.8 km radius of a severe fire that kicked off on Saturday at a warehouse at the port. Water and road tracks near the port was restricted while residents in neighbouring districts were urged to keep their windows shut. A noxious fire started on Saturday in a consignment of 5,000 tons of nickel oxide with most of the cargo now destroyed. While fire crews say they have now got the fire under control it is likely to burn for the next few days. Operations at the port, however, have got back to normal.

On the river Rhine, Germany’s most important waterway, ships are only able to carry half or even less cargo as usual, the section responsible for shipping and waterways of the ministry of transport (GDWS) told the German press agency (dpa) on Friday. Due to high temperatures and low water levels, the production facilities of chemical giant BASF cannot be cooled sufficiently and the production had to be lowered, the company announced on Friday. In order to comply with the requirements of the German authorities, BASF had to gradually reduce production in their Ludwigshafen plant. During drought, the re-introduction of industrial cooling water into the Rhine is legally limited “If the warm, high-pressure weather continues and no significant rain falls, water levels will continue to fall,” said GDWS spokeswoman Claudia Thoma. “If necessary, shipping traffic may come to a partial standstill.” Around 80 percent of all goods transported by inland navigation vessels are transported on the Rhine. Source: Xinhua