Tag: hazardous weather at sea

Total to move drilling rigs from two nearby fields Total faced rough seas and heavy winds on Monday as the oil and gas company prepared to send men and machines to battle a leak at its Elgin platform in the North Sea that has spewed gas into the air for over a week.The French company, which is spending $1 million per day on efforts to plug the leak, plans to move drilling rigs from two nearby fields, fly staff to the platform if it is deemed safe and send two underwater inspection vehicles to check where best to drill relief wells, Total said on Monday."Both (inspection) vessels are currently awaiting optimum sea conditions before they can be deployed," Total said, raising concerns that relief operations will be delayed as Met Office forecasts showed even stronger wind levels for Monday afternoon.The company is expected to fly its own staff to the platform within the next few days, industry sources told Reuters.If a first visit to the platform is successful, Total plans to fly out more engineers by the end of the week to begin injecting mud into the well to stop the gas leak, the industry sources said.Workers are expected to ...

Waves of up to 7 meters hit shipwreck - further containers have been released Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) has reported that the bad weather and large waves which are hitting the wreck of the cargo ship Rena have resulted in further containers being released from a hold in the bow section.The Astrolabe Reef is currently being hit with waves of up to 7 meters, with the heavy seas forecast to persist through the night, and ease tomorrow.MNZ Tauranga Response and Recovery Manager David Billington said an observation flight this afternoon had confirmed the swells had forced a hatch cover off the number 3 hold in the bow section, and an estimated 10 containers had been released from the same hold.One of these containers was seen floating near the wreck. It is possible the others have sunk to the seabed.Mr Billington said no salvage operations could take place during the rough weather, but the salvage and container recovery teams were monitoring the situation and had contingency plans in place to respond as soon as weather conditions allowed.He advised any boaties out on the water in the Bay of Plenty to take extra care and to observe the 2 nautical mile exclusion ...

The Monsoon winds is the first counter-piracy asset Harsh conditions at sea have led to a drop in the frequency of pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia.According to one senior Commander with the EUNAVFOR"The Monsoon winds is the first counter-piracy asset we have at our disposal".Somali piracy lull linked to harsh sea windsMombasa, Kenya - Somali pirates have been unable to step into the sea to prey on merchant shipping lines in the Gulf of Aden due to the harsh conditions at sea, leading to a drop in the frequency of attacks, naval sources have revealed.In readiness for an upsurge in the number of attacks, the European Union (EU) Naval Taskforce (EUNAVFOR) deployed in the region at the peak of the pirate attacks, is planning to double the number of warships by May to deal with the extra-threat."The Monsoon winds is the first counter-piracy asset we have at our disposal," a senior Commander with the EUNAVFOR, who wished to remain unnamed, said. "In April, when there is no Monsoon, the sea would be like a swimming pool," he added.The swimming pool-like conditions at sea enable the pirates to flock back to sea, relying on an array of tools, including ...

HMS Protector punches through Antarctic ice The Navy's Antarctic patrol ship had to punch her way through ice to first deliver, then pick up a team of scientists as the pack ice threatened to trap them - and the ship.The Portsmouth-based survey ship was charged with putting a small team from the British Antarctic Survey ashore so they could collect geological samples on remote James Ross Island off the eastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.She did so courtesy of her small work boat, Terra Nova, which carefully negotiated the ice field to land the scientists and their equipment, including sufficient food and fuel to last up to 30 days in one of the world's most inhospitable locations.While the scientists got to work, the weather and ice forecasts aboard the survey ship began to look increasingly unfavourable.After four days on James Ross Island, the decision was made to pull the scientists out much earlier than anticipated - a change of wind direction meant there was a chance ice from the Weddell Sea would be driven towards James Ross Island - potentially blocking HMS Protector in, like a cork in a bottle.Protector's Commanding Officer Capt Peter Sparkes decided the safest and least ...

Oil tanker was forced aground by high waves and heavy winds Sharjah/ Ras Al Khaimah Rough seas left four ships stranded in UAE waters while an empty oil tanker was forced aground by high waves and heavy winds Sunday.The UAE coast guard had a field day as they struggled to rescue the crew members from the vessels, with inclement weather hampering their efforts.Waves were reported to be as high as eight metres around the shore, which forced the oil tanker aground near Sharjah's Hamriyah port.The 40 metre Dredger II, which was coming from Ajman, hit the breakwater of Hamriyah port, following which the waves pushed it on top of the breakwater, an official said.Two Asian crew members of the ship survived the incident and were rescued by the coast guard. They are reported to be in good condition and are awaiting outpasses to return home."If the tanker falls from the breakwater it will go down on top of another oil tanker, Lady Moon, which sank on January 24 in similar weather conditions,'' an official at Khalid Port told Gulf News Sunday."Lady Moon, Hamd II and Dredger II posed a real threat to the outer seawall off Al Hamriya Port,'' the ...

Cargo ship capsized in the South China Sea Nineteen people were rescued and three people remained missing following a shipwreck off the coast of south China's Guangdong Province Wednesday night, local marine authorities said.The municipal marine rescue center of Shantou received a report at 9:27 p.m. that a cargo ship capsized in the South China Sea near the Nan'ao Cross-sea Bridge, which is currently under construction, throwing its eight crew members into the water.A container vessel then hit the wrecked ship and lost power, stranding 14 people on board and endangering the nearby bridge construction, the center said.As of noon on Thursday, 19 people had been rescued from the water and from the stranded vessel, while rescuers continued to search for the three missing people.An initial probe found that sea conditions were rough when the accidents happened.Source: Xinhua

Horizon Reliance containership rescue operation Horizon Lines, Inc. announced that one of its vessels enroute to Hawaii from the U.S. West Coast rescued three sailboat passengers, including a nine-year-old boy, adrift in stormy seas in the predawn hours of February 8, 2012.Captain James Kelleher and the crew of the 893-ft. Horizon Reliance containership were directed by the U.S. Coast Guard to alter course at full speed to assist the 33-ft. sailboat and its crew of three. The sailboat, said to be traveling from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Hilo, Hawaii, was reported to be adrift without power, with all sails destroyed, approximately 411 nautical miles east of Honolulu. Weather conditions were poor, with southwesterly winds gusting to 40 knots and sea swells in the 20-ft. range. Horizon Lines is a member of AMVER, a voluntary program sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard for mutual vessel assistance and rescue.The rescue took place at approximately 2 a.m. local time and all three passengers are now aboard the Horizon Reliance and reported to be in good health and spirits. The Horizon Reliance is scheduled to arrive in Honolulu at 4 a.m. local time on February 9, 2012. At that time, the rescued passengers, three ...

Adverse weather conditions have not affected freight transportation Adverse weather conditions have not affected freight transportation in the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan State Caspian Shipping Company (CASPAR) told Trend on Wednesday.According to the report, oil cargo is transported between the ports in normal mode. Also, ferry service is carried out between the ports."The weather conditions have not affected sea operations," CASPAR said.Severe snowstorm began in Baku in early Wednesday morning.As the Bureau of Hydro-meteorological Forecasts of the National Hydrometeorology Department of the Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry told Trend earlier, frost will rise within the day.On Feb.8, 3 - 5 degrees below zero, as well as snowstorm will be observed within the day.On the night of Feb.8 the minimum temperature in Baku is expected at 6-10 degrees below zero.It will snow in the Azerbaijani regions until early morning hours on Feb.9.Source: en.trend.az

Dry cargo ship Vera sank in a storm one mile off the coast of the Black Sea A dry cargo ship sank off the Black Sea coast of Turkey Tuesday and eight members of the 11-strong Polish crew were missing, Turkish media said.The Cambodian-registered dry cargo ship Vera was sailing from Russia to the Turkish Aegean port of Aliaga and sank in a storm one mile off the coast of the Black Sea port of Zonguldak, CNN Turk said.Three members of the crew were saved and taken to hospital, the television channel said, but coast guards and police were still searching for the eight others.Turkey has been hit by extreme weather and snow storms over the past week. There were gale warnings Tuesday for parts of the Marmara, Black Sea and Aegean, a shipping agent said.The Bosphorus Straits, a key shipping route passing through the city of Istanbul, was closed to all vessels Tuesday because of poor visibility caused by a snowstorm, coast guard officials said.Source: Reuters

Anothr disaster - The boat sank in bad weather A passenger ship has sunk off Iran, killing at least nine people.Twenty-two people were on-board the vessel, when it went down off the Iranian coast near Bandar Abbas.Five people have been rescued, but several are still missing.The boat sank in bad weather from sailing from an island to Bandar Abbas.It's believed the boat ran out of fuel, before capsizing in heavy winds.Source: Sky News