Japanese tanker spills more than 4,300 tonnes of crude oil

Canada.com ^ | 15 Aug 06 | Chisaki Watanabe, Canadian Press

[GATOR NAVY]

TOKYO -- A Japanese tanker spilled about 4,365 tonnes of crude oil in the eastern Indian Ocean near the Nicobar islands following a collision with a cargo ship, the tanker's operator announced Tuesday.

The spill is believed to be the largest involving Japanese-operated tankers, according a ship owner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines.

The Bright Artemis tanker spilled the oil following a collision with the Amar, a smaller cargo ship, Mitsui O.S.K. said in a statement. It said the tanker had manoeuvred near the Amar, which was in distress about 500 kilometres west of the Nicobars. Both ships are registered in Singapore.

The exact amount of the spill was not clear, the announcement said. The tanker was carrying about 227,000 tonnes of crude. It had left port in Oman, bound for the Japanese port of Chiba, near Tokyo, Mitsui O.S.K. spokesman Hidenori Onuki said.

There was no risk of further leaks and the tanker left the accident scene. It is seeking a port for repairs before continuing on to Japan, Onuki said.

There were no reports of injuries aboard the tanker, which had a Croatian captain and a crew of 23. A fire had broken out aboard the Amar and its crew was rescued by the Bright Artemis and other ships nearby, the announcement said. The accident occurred early Monday, local time, on the open sea.

The environmental impact from the spill, which occurred hundreds of kilometres from the nearest land, is believed to be limited.

The remote Nicobar islands are located off the east coast of India.

Mitsui said the spill had been reported to Singaporean and Indian Coast Guard officials. No further details were immediately available. © The Canadian Press 2006

[GATOR NAVY]

Law of the sea and all that, but a VLCC really needs to be pretty careful when trying to attempt rescue work. They're just not that manueaverable.

The Bright Artemis, a 146,463-ton Singaporean-registered tanker, is shown in this undated photo. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

[Obadiah]

It's not a US tanker so this will be met by yawns from the environmentalists.

[HEY4QDEMS]

Why tonnage??? At 7 lbs per gallon, 4300 tonnes is over 1.3 million gallons, Why don't they just tell it like it is?

[GATOR NAVY]

I don't know. Maybe because tonnage can be converted to whatever unit of measure you want. By the way, did you factor in that a "tonne" is a metric ton, 1000kg or 2200 lbs?

[CarrotAndStick]

The Nicobar Islands of India

[HEY4QDEMS]

By the way, did you factor in that a "tonne" is a metric ton, 1000kg or 2200 lbs?

Yes I did.

I did an "Ask Jeeves" for the weight of a gallon of coil, for which the answer is 6 to 8 pounds. (I selected 7 as a sensible average)

I multiplied 4300 x 2200 and then divided the product by 7 which resulted in over 1.35 million.

Usually the media likes to sensationalize things so it struck me a little odd that they reported the spill in tonnage when 1.3 million sounds much worse IMO.

[Arthalion]

There are natives on those islands who will kill you for merely stepping on their beaches. They actually may be the home of the last truly primitive peoples anywhere in the world, and India has laws protecting their right to kill people who venture onto their territory. Something tells me that we won't be seeing any sympathetic shots of environmentalists rescuing oily seabirds this time around.

[CarrotAndStick]

Yes. I am aware of that. The Indian Coast Guard allows no-one near the islands. They operate radar installations on those islands.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1573957/posts

Stone Age Tribe Kills Fishermen Who Strayed On To Island

[highbottom]

I believe that tonnage is defined as space not weight, with regard to vessels.

[joan]

"the tanker, which had a Croatian captain"

This is a bad week for Croat captains:

Croatian ferry rams into pier; passengers hurt

Zagreb, Aug. 16 (AP): A ferry with more than 300 people on board crashed into a concrete pier while trying to dock in the Croatian port of Split on Wednesday, injuring at least 18 passengers, police in the southern coastal city said.

The injured, including six seriously hurt, were rushed to a hospital, police said. At least 15 cars parked in the hull of the vessel were damaged.

The Ministry of Tourism, Development and Maritime Affairs said that both engines on the ship had broken down and that two anchors subsequently released by the captain failed to prevent the accident.

A full investigation was under way, they said.

The ferry was carrying passengers from the Croatian island of Solta.

[highbottom]

1 gross register ton is equal to a volume of 100 cubic feet

I'll sit back and let the brainiacks do the math.

[RightWhale]

How many barrels per ton? Seven? That would save on memory storage.

[ASOC]

Pretty funny.

Oil patch professionals report oil as barels (volume) or in tons - which is volume related, but it seems reporters use gallons -- must want to use a larger number.

Weight changes due to differences in the product.

[Bokababe]

From those photos, the tribe is probably smart killing anyone who comes near it. If they had interaction with the continent, I could see a seaside resort there in a heartbeat -- it's beautiful!

[CarrotAndStick]

You've got to see this then:


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1573957/posts

Stone Age Tribe Kills Fishermen Who Strayed On To Island

[GATOR NAVY]

I was in Split earlier this year. There are tons of ferries there running and forth to Italy and the various Adriatic islands. Here's a pic of part of the ferry docks.

[HEY4QDEMS]

I thought it was water displacement.

[Bokababe]

Yes, I read it. Frightening.

I aways knew that when boating, getting drunk was not an option -- and these guys became the poster boys for that advice!

[untrained skeptic]

The oil spill is 500 km from land. The natives most of the natives will never even hear that if happened and it won't effect them.

The oil will break down naturally and will not have a large environmental impact.

The biggest advantage of it being so far from land is that the environmentalists won't try and clean up the spill and do much more damage to the environment in the process like they have in the past.

[joan]

Didn't Captain Bligh, after he was put overboard with some other men on a small boat in "The Bounty Mutiny", write of the dangerous natives on the islands they would stop at on their way home?

I think he would often use colorful and shiny things and trinkets - attaching or nailing them to trees, for example -to distract them long enough so he and the others could get back on the boat and out to sea.