Posts Tagged ‘aground’
Pic of the Day
The cruise ship Costa Serena sails as its sister ship Costa Concordia cruise ship lays on its side after it ran aground off the west coast of Italy at Giglio island.
Business as usual – for some vacationers.
Pic of the Day
Containers on the stern deck of the 47,230 ton Liberian-flagged Rena hang precariously, about 12 nautical miles from Tauranga, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island October 20, 2011. The recovery of fuel oil from a stricken container ship grounded off New Zealand resumed on Thursday as salvage teams worked to minimize the damage in the country’s worst environmental disaster in decades. Two days of strong winds and high seas had prevented the pumping of oil from the Rena, which has been stuck for more than two weeks on the Astrolabe Reef.
Ferryboat captain stuck in crapper – unguided vessel runs aground
A Finnish ferry has run aground while its captain was stuck in the bathroom.
One member of staff managed to slow the island-hopping tourist ferry down, but the vessel, carrying 54 passengers, slammed onto a rock near the shore of Helsinki, the Finnish coastguard said…
The captain got stuck in the bathroom because of a jammed lock and yelled for help, the coastguard said.
…The coastguard is investigating whether the captain’s actions amounted to criminal endangerment.
What was he supposed to do? Steer the ship by flushing the toilet?
Stealth nuclear sub ain’t much good stuck in the mud!
Click on the photo for Reuters Pictures view of the stuck submarine
The Royal Navy hastened to assemble an official inquiry Friday evening to explore why Britain’s newest nuclear submarine, H.M.S. Astute, ran aground while undergoing sea trials off the coast of northwest Scotland on Friday morning and remained stuck on a bank of sand and shingle for nearly 10 hours before a tug pulled it free at nightfall. A spokesman for the Royal Navy said divers would be deployed to check concerns that the submarine’s rudder had been damaged.
The episode was particularly embarrassing for the navy because the vessel, one of the most technologically advanced submarines in the world, was designed for maximum stealth and use in such delicate operations as delivering special forces troops secretly and eavesdropping off the coasts of hostile nations. Its design features and propulsion mechanisms are considered top secret, naval experts said, but both were on display during the grounding.
Earlier efforts by tugboats to free the $2 billion vessel failed, prompting officials to wait until the evening tide to refloat it. Their decision left the 8,000-ton submarine, as long as a football field and equipped to carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, sitting motionless in full view of people on the shoreline throughout the day.
Local residents quoted by the BBC said the submarine appeared to be tilting slightly as it sat about a mile off the coast of the Isle of Skye, close to the bridge that links the island to the Scottish mainland at the Kyle of Lochalsh, 150 miles northwest of Glasgow.
They certainly had a great view of the Black Cuillin. I just hope they didn’t screw up one of the most idyllic spots on this whole bloody planet. The Misty Isle is heaven on Earth – though I have spent as long as 3 weeks in a tent waiting for the rain to stop. 
