Third Ship Hits Sunken Tricolor in English Channel

Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | 1-24-03 | Anon

[Pharmboy]

LONDON (Reuters) - The wreck of jinxed car carrier the Tricolor, which has already been hit by two ships since it sank in the English Channel in December, has done it again -- this time colliding with a salvage tug.

Dutch-based Smit Salvage, contracted to remove oil from the partially submerged ship, said on Friday one of its tugs hit the partially submerged wreck and cracked the Tricolor's hull in bad weather on Wednesday.

"Due to the high swell she was picked up by a wave and hit the wreck in a very unfortunate place -- directly on a tank holding oil," Smit's Lars Walder told Reuters.

Walder said the tank held some 170 tonnes of ship fuel but added it was not clear how much had seeped out.

He said the crack was quickly patched up and the oil leak contained early on Thursday morning.

"We hear from the French authorities that there is an oil leak that is approximately seven kilometers to eight kilometers long but it is very thinly dispersed on the surface."

A spill response vessel with an oil boom was heading to the scene to suck up the oil.

The Tricolor sank with a cargo of luxury cars worth up to $50 million after smashing into a container ship in the busy shipping lane in mid-December.

A few days later, a German cargo vessel crashed into its hull, which lies in French waters about 25 meters (82 feet) deep and is visible only at low tide.

In early January the wreck was struck again, this time by an oil tanker, the Vicky, carrying 70,000 tonnes of highly flammable kerosene.

That incident led to some 350 liters of fuel oil leaking into the sea.

[Pharmboy]

Hey! Pilot! Go AROUND it...

[LibKill]

Hell's donkeys! Hasn't anyone thought about putting a warning buoy on that thing?

[r9etb]

Hell's donkeys! Hasn't anyone thought about putting a warning buoy on that thing?

Well, once you read the story, you find out that it wasn't a navigation problem. The ship was supposed to be right there, and that the collision was caused by a wave.

[LibKill]

Oops. Never mind.

[mitchbert]

If any of you are waiting for a Volvo XC90 and the delivery date has been pushed back, well, I know where your SUV is. Seriously.

[Bikers4Bush]

That would mean the french would have to do something that made sense and we all know that won't happen.

[N. Theknow]

Is this in the dreaded French Triangle?

[azhenfud]

Those cars are getting bumped more often at the bottom of the sea than they would on a New York borough street....

[Dog]

Another one!

Sheesh!

[Dog]

LOL!

Everything entering ....surrenders.

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[Jonah Hex]

How in Rickover's name does a sunken ship collide with a tugboat?

"Honest, officer, that tree backed into me!!

[Psalm 73]

And this, from our highly enlightened European role models. Tsk, tsk.

[KineticKitty]

I thought it was a simple concept???

[Pharmboy]

A few days later, a German cargo vessel crashed into its hull, which lies in French waters about 25 meters (82 feet) deep and is visible only at low tide.

In early January the wreck was struck again, this time by an oil tanker, the Vicky, carrying 70,000 tonnes of highly flammable kerosene.

That incident led to some 350 liters of fuel oil leaking into the sea.

Uhhhh...I don't think waves caused all of this; sounds like someone wasn't paying attention while their hand was on the tiller.

[Darksheare]

Cross-eyed Captain alert!

[r9etb]

Uhhhh...I don't think waves caused all of this; sounds like someone wasn't paying attention while their hand was on the tiller.

I was talking about this last one.

[Pharmboy]

Yes, but the whole article deals with the three of them which make it quite a coinkydink, eh? Waves or no waves...

[Mr. Silverback]

Hell's donkeys! Hasn't anyone thought about putting a warning buoy on that thing?

Preferrably something you can tie a dive boat and a diver down flag to. I hear car ferries are fun to dive.

[Dionysius]

The French finally have a weapon that works!