Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: hawk220 on December 15, 2002, 02:10:35 PM
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"Although all of its crew escaped unharmed, the tanker -- and its cargo of almost 3,000 BMWs, Volvos and Saabs -- lay just below the surface. "
Cargo wreck obstructs Dover Straits
Sunday, December 15, 2002 Posted: 11:35 AM EST (1635 GMT)
DOVER, England -- Vessels using one of the world's busiest shipping lanes are being warned of a sunken wreck that is blocking the route.
The Tricolor, a Norwegian-registered car carrier, was carrying £30 million ($47.7m) worth of luxury cars when it sank in the English Channel in the early hours of Saturday following a collision with another vessel in fog.
Although all of its crew escaped unharmed, the tanker -- and its cargo of almost 3,000 BMWs, Volvos and Saabs -- lay just below the surface.
Images of the scene bore a chilling resemblance to the aftermath of the sinking of the passenger ferry 'Herald of Free Enterprise' in 1987 near Zeebrugge harbour.
Pollution experts and salvage crews were hoping to inspect the scene on Sunday in a bid to assess the feasibility of moving the wreck and containing its 2,000 tons of fuel oil.
But heavy fog was preventing the salvage operation assessment from been carried out.
While shipping is been warned of the 50,000-ton, 200-metre ship obstacle, the Dover Straits are expected to continue as normal, the French Coastguard said.
A coastguard boat is remaining alongside to alert other ships to the Tricolor's presence in the water.
It was carrying the cars from Zeebrugge, in Belgium, to Southampton, England.
The damage to the Kariba illustrates the force of the collision
In a statement, Per Ronnevig, spokesman for shipping firm Wilhelmsen Lines, which owned the carrier, said as well as the cars, the Tricolor was also transporting 77 other cargo units, which mainly consisted of tractors and crane parts.
The vessel was estimated to be worth £25.1 million ($39.9).
Ronnevig said the the cargo would probably have to be written off.
He said: "I think we must consider it lost. She probably capsized when she went down. It means that all the cars are probably lying in pieces down there."
The Tricolor sank after colliding with the container ship Kariba, which was said to be severely damaged.
The 175-metre, 20,829-ton cargo vessel Kariba was carrying containers and was on its way from Antwerp, in Belgium, to Le Havre, in France.
After the incident it limped back to Antwerp for damage inspection.
Investigators are due to question the crew of both vessels.
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Secondary headline:
"Desperate status seekers hunt for alternative ways to flaunt their success"
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cool, diving for parts
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"""the tanker -- and its cargo of almost 3,000 BMWs, Volvos and Saabs --"""
they ship cars in 'tankers"??
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its called a ro ro , for roll on roll off . like a giant ferry that can also carry containers.
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i hope none of those cars landed on any Bo'B planes
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Don't tell rip theres BMW's down there..
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No parts needed yet! ;) Actually, as someone who waited 12 weeks for one, I kinda feel for the members on our BMW board who were affected by this sinking. One fellow I had a PM exchange with said that he and his wife had done the European delivery (where you get approx. $3000 off the price of the car, and use it to vacation over in Europe, you get to take delivery of the car, a 30 day license, and tour Europe in your new car) and they had dropped their car off at a port (you have a choice of 12 ports to drop the car off at) and flew home, he found out his new car was on the Tricolor! There were also Saabs, Volvo's and some tractor machinery on board as well.
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Originally posted by lord dolf vader
its called a ro ro , for roll on roll off . like a giant ferry that can also carry containers.
I much prefer reefers myself...
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I read that a German vessel struck the wreck early this morning and had to be pulled away by tugs.
The Tricolor was a cool looking ship.
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How on earth do two huge slow ships collide with available modern radar technology, gps and advanced communications?
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Originally posted by GRUNHERZ
How on earth do two huge slow ships collide with available modern radar technology, gps and advanced communications?
Human error. Take the humans out of the picture, use remote shipping with GPS beacons, problem solved ;)
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I had no idea the English Channel was so shallow. During low tide, the wreck isn't even completely submerged.
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in 100 years that'll be quite the dive site with all those nice antique cars.
heck, it's pretty nice today already.