Page Number 17

Year 2012

The Individual Moments of Transport Crisis

Which Don't Constitute A Full Page Feature

Only A Few Picture Series Result In A The Cargo Letter Photo Feature Page.

For All The Rather Amazing Single Picture Contributions We Recieve --

-- Here Are Our Selected One Photo Wonders!

 The Air & Ocean Logistics- Customs Broker Attorneys

International Trade Consultants

"Overlooking Runway 25 - Right, at Los Angeles International Airport"

Countryman & McDaniel

Transport Single Photo Nightmares

Five Dead & Nine Day's Warning? - 30 December 2012

The Actual Red Wings TU-204 - Tail Number RA-64047 - Which Ended It's Career On Dec. 29 2012 After 8,500 Flight Hours The Aircraft Payload is 23,000 kilograms (51,000 lb) Configured For Cargo Only Tupolev Tu-204: A twin-engined medium-range jet airliner capable of carrying 210 passengers, designed by Tupolev and produced by Aviastar SP and Kazan Aircraft Production Association. First introduced in 1989, it is considered to be broadly equivalent to the Boeing 757 and has competitive performance and fuel efficiency in its class. It was developed for Aeroflot as a replacement for the medium-range Tupolev Tu-154 trijet. The latest version, with significant upgrades and improvements, is the Tu-204SM, which performed its first flight on 29 December 2010. This story concerns this latest model Tu-204SM. The Only Tupolev Tu-204 Fatal Crash: On December 29, 2012 at 16:35 local time (12:35 GMT), a Red Wings TU-204 (RA-64047, cn 1450743164047), flight number RWZ9268 aircraft crashed after overrunning the runway at Moscow Vnukovo International Airport following a flight from Pardubice Airport in the Czech Republic. The aircraft broke up and caught fire after landing. Vnukovo airport says there were only 5 crew members aboard, with no passengers on board. The aircraft was built in 2008. Both pilots, the flight engineer and two flight attendants were killed The Crash Occurred Amid Snow & Winds Gusting To 30 mph Incident At Novosibirsk: On December 20, 2012 -- nine days before this crash -- a Red Wings TU-204 (RA-64049) overran Runway 25 at Tolmachevo Airport by 1,150 feet (350 meters) when the plane's engines failed to reverse thrust and its brakes failed on landing. No injuries occurred. The aircraft landing gear & tires were destroyed. The website RussianPlanes.net reports the very same aircraft tail number RA-64047 suffered an engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing in June 2009. Did Novosibirsk Predict Moscow?: "The plane touched down in the proper landing area but for some reason was unable to stop on the strip," Federal Air Transport Agency chief Alexander Neradko said in televised remarks. On Dec. 29 2012 -- the crew had little chance to survive. Tail Number RA-64049 Over Shot Runway 25, Split Into 3 Pieces & Required Shutdown of The Kiev Highway Incredible Video As The Flight Crosses Kiev Highway Tail Number RA-64049 Blocks The Kiev Highway Step By Step Video Details of The Crash Owner of Red Wings: Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev, famous for his critical view of the Kremlin, is a Russian businessman, born 16 December 1959, referred to as one of the Russian oligarchs. In May 2008, he was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest Russians and as the 358th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of US$3.1Bn. He is part owner of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and owner of four UK newspapers with son Evgeny Lebedev: the London Evening Standard, The Independent, the Independent on Sunday and the new i newspaper. MAIN INDEX

Final Endeaviur - 21 September 2012

Overlookingf Runway 25 Right This was the view -- at eye level -- from the Countryman & McDaniel LAX offices on September 21, as Shuttle Endeavour streaked past our office windows. Flanked by two F-18 fighters, Endeavour in a tumultuous flyby of Los Angeles International Airport, before circling and then landing here to mark the end of her 26th & final mission -- again in front of our windows. Our website of about a normal 800,000 hits per day crashed, due to literally a hundred thousand viewers trying to view the event from all over the world from our LAX Webcams. There was a "Shuttle Party" here at the firm, as transport executives, transport lawyers and family members joined with our staff for the joyous final flight of Endeavour We stood -- amazed -- for this landmark moment of American history. Go USA !! Coming In For The Final Landing As Thousands of People Line Aviation Boulevard Thousands of People Line Runways 25 Left & 25 Right As Endeavour And Her Escorts Are Followed By The Crash Trucks On The Roof of The United Airlines Maintenance Hanger, Employees Have A Front Row View All Photos By Maria Hernandez & Blaine Prentiss For Countryman & McDaniel MAIN INDEX

Hurricane Isaac Grounds M/V Hansa Berlin - 26 August 2012

M/V Hansa Berlin On The North Coast of Cuba, About 20 Miles From Havan All Crew Are Rescued By Helicopter After Hurricane Isaac Grounds The Vessel M/V Hansa Berlin -1,016 TEU -Liberian Flag -12,582 Mtdw on 8.26M -Built 1993 at Szczecinska Shipyard, Poland -Class GL -1,016 TEU 488 FEU 90 -DWT 13.000 -Length & Beam 150 meters & 22 meters -Gear 2 x 40 ton cranes M/V Hansa Berlin Was Making Way From Santiago de Cuba to Havana When Hit By Hurricane Issac Ship Owner Leonhardt & Blumberg Has Reportedly Been Granted Permission By Cuba To Contract With A U.S. Salvage Company CONTRIBUTOR For This Feature: Blek Stena MAIN INDEX

Abandoned, Adrift & Afire - M/V MSC Flaminia - July 16 2012

M/V MSC Flaminia In Better Days Port of Charleston For Port of Antwerp, When Disaster Strikes A Worst Case Scenario In The Mid Atlantic Of 25 Crew -- One Dead, One Missing & Three Injured Evacuated To The Azorers. From The Cargo Letter - July 16 2012 The containership M/V MSC FLAMINIA suffered a disastrous fire and explosion July 14, during the course of regular liner service from U.S. ports to Europe.  The extent of this casualty is evident from the fact that the crew of 25, after a Mayday was sent, had to abandon ship, with one crewman dead, three injured and one missing. The vessel's U.S. load ports were: Charleston  -  July 8, 2012 ,Savannah    -  July 7, 2012 Mobile        -  July 2, 2012 New Orleans &endash; July 1, 2012 Houston         -  June 29, 2012 Fort Lauderdale &endash; June 18, 2012 MSC's standard form bill of lading for cargo to or from the U.S. provides for jurisdiction in the Southern District of New York and the application of U.S. law. The vessel's discharge ports were to have been: Antwerp  -  July 17, 2012 Felixstowe  -  July 19, 2012 Bremerhaven &endash; July 21, 2012 Le Havre    -     July 23, 2012 The German ship, built in 2001, is fully cellular, DWT of 85,823, with a container capacity of 6,750 TEU, is classed with Germanischer Lloyd, and is insured with the Swedish Club for both hull and p & i risks.  She has been in regular liner service among the above ports for some time, under a 16 year timecharter. The current report is that Smit have been retained for salvage and they have sent the ocean-going tugs, M/V Fairmount Expedition and M/V Anglian Sovereign to the abandoned burning vessel.  It has been estimated that the tugs, both of which have significant firefighting capability, will arrive on scene tomorrow evening.  How many of these cargo owners do not have high quality marine cargo insurance? They are about to receive an unpleasant surprise as cash despotis are called for under General Average. The Planned Rotation of M/V MSC Flaminia Truly A "Singles Only" With This As The Only Press Photo Available As of July 16 2012 From The Cargo Letter - July 16 2012 The 6,732-teu M/V MSC Flaminia (built 2001) abandoned 1,000 miles from land is a potentially high value salvage contract. The NSB Niederelbe operated vessel will have a hull insurance value of about US$40M and assuming there are 4,000 containers of cargo on board with an average value of $30,000 that is another $120m. Smit are understood to have dispatched the 16,320-hp ocean going tug M/V Fairmount Expedition (built 2007) and the 16,500-hp M/V Anglian Sovereign (built 2003) to the last reported position of the MSC Flaminia. There have been no recent reports about the condition of M/V MSC Flaminia but the containership was said to be "well ablaze" when last spotted. It will take the tugs, which have good firefighting capability, until July 17 evening to reach the M/V MSC Flaminia so the prospects of a successful salvage operation remain to be seen. A seriously injured crewman from M/V MSC Flaminia has meanwhile been evacuated from the Azores to a specialist burns unit in Portugal. Of the 25 people aboard the vessel at the time of the blaze one is confirmed dead, one missing and three receving medical attention in the Azores. The uninjured survivors who include two freighter travel passengers are on the 311,000-dwt tanker M/T DS Crown (built 1999) and will in due course be landed at Falmouth in the UK. The crewmen injured as they fought the blaze were rescued by the 6,402-teu containershipMSC Stella (built 2004). NSB Niederelbe say they have no recent information about the condition of M/V MSC Flaminia, owned by a Conti Reederei KG scheme, but on a 16 year charter to Mediterranean Shipping Co. The German operator is not giving any details of the cargo in the Number Four hold which was the seat of the blaze. Declared or undeclared hazardous cargo such as the bleaching agent calcium hypochlorite implicated in a number of major containership fires could be a possible cause. NSB Niederelbe's 1,600-teu M/V Contship France (built 1993), now the Marinos - sustained serious damage to both hull and cargo in 1997 in an explosion and fire attributed to calcium hypochlorite. A number of containership owners including NSB Niederelbe subsequently adopted a policy of only carrying calcium hypochlorite as deck cargo. It has also emerged that five deficiencies of a non-detainable nature were found on M/V MSC Flaminia when the vessel was boarded by port state control inspectors in December in Antwerp. One of the deficiencies related to fire prevention provision but NSB Niederelbe is not commenting on exactly what was involved. The M/V MSC Flaminia was on a voyage from Charleston to Antwerp at the time of the fire with a crew of five Germans, three Poles and 15 Filipinos. The nationalities of the passengers is not known. The hull insurance of the M/V MSC Flaminia is led by the Swedish Club which also provides protection and indemnity cover for the vessel. The dramatic photo of the M/V MSC Flaminia on fire was taken from the Dr Peters controlled tanker DS Crown which rescued the crew of the containership. "We responded immediately and did everything humanly possible to help the vessel in distress. I am extremely proud that the captain and the crew of M/T DS Crown acted promptly and did everything they could to save the 23 survivors. Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the families of the missing crew member and the first mate," said Jurgen Salamon, Managing Partner of Dr Peters. "On 11 November 2002, we ourselves suffered a similarly horrific blaze on one of our own vessels, M/V Hanjin Pennsylvania, which resulted in the loss of two crew members. At that time, others came to our aid &endash; this time, we were able to give aid," added Salamon. UPDATE From The Cargo Letter - July 17 2012 Earlier this week we received our first claim/case assignments for the M/V MSC Flaminia loss. Please let us know if Countryman & McDonnell may be of assistance to your situation. Michael McDaniel Countryman & McDaniel We Pray For The Crew of M/V MSC Flaminia And Her Prompt Return To Service From The Cargo Letter - What Is A Flaminia? The Via Flaminia is a famous road leading fromRome over the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had for travel between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley. Today the same route, still called by the same name for much of its distance, is paralleled or overlain by Strada Statale (SS) 3, also called Strada Regionale (SR) 3 in Lazio and Umbria, and Strada Provinciale (SP) 3 in Marche. It leaves Rome, goes up the Val Tevere ("Valley of the Tiber River"), strikes into the mountains at Castello delle Formische, ascends toGualdo Tadino, goes over the divide at Scheggia Pass, 575 m (1,886 ft), to Cagli. From there it descends the eastern slope waterways between the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and the Umbrian Apennines to Fano on the coast and goes north parallel to Highway A1 to Rimini From The Cargo Letter - July 21 Update A firefighting tug was dispatched by the vessel's German owner NSB Niederelbe Schiffahrtsges. mbH & Co. (MSC charters the ship). MSC said a second salvage tug was due to arrive yesterday, with a third tug to arrive shortly after.  "The extent of the damage to the cargo is still not known, and it is most likely that such an assessment can only be made once the vessel has reached a port of refuge," MSC said.  The line said another small explosion in one of the ship's holds occurred July 17 afternoon, "which we understand was relatively minor. The heat/fire in the No. 4 hold appears less intense with the flames on deck reduced overall." CONTRIBUTOR For This Feature: Hildegard  "Hilde" E. Krause - Assistant Claims Manager, Roanoke Claims Services MAIN INDEX

Dock of The Bay - June 7 2012

From The Cargo Letter - June 7 2012 A huge floating dock cast adrift by Japan's 2011 tsunami has washed up on an Oregon beach, believed to be the biggest piece of flotsam to make landfall on the U.S.s West Coast so far. The 66-foot (20-meter) long rectangular structure, made of concrete and metal, was spotted floating off the coast on Monday, and then washed in with the high tide on Agate beach, 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Portland. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) contacted Japanese diplomats, who confirmed that it was from the March 11, 2011 tsunami, and had drifted 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers) across the Pacific over the last 15 months. Hirofumi Murabayashi, deputy consul general at Japan's consulate in Portland, said: "Four floating docks were washed away by the tsunami. This is one of them. "The other three we don't know where they are, if they're floating somewhere or they sank in the ocean or not," he told AFP. Confirmation that the dock came from the tsunami came after Japanese writing and markings were found on various parts of the seaweed-covered dock, including "Shibata, Japan" on tires, apparently designed to make it buoyant. An OPRD spokesman said the dock was bigger than either a trawler scuttled off Alaska in April for safety reasons before reaching land, or a shipping container with a Harley-Davidson inside on a Canada beach at the start of May. "The container with the motorcycle was a fair bit smaller than this," spokesman Chris Havel told AFP. "Certainly this is the biggest thing that's not a boat that we've had on the Oregon shore in my memory, for the last 17 years." The dock has been checked for radioactivity -- the killer earthquake and tsunami triggered a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant on Japan's east coast -- but had proved negative, said Havel. Various debris from the Japanese tsunami have begun washing up on the US and Canadian west coast, and experts predict a surge of flotsam in the coming months. Japanese officials confirmed that the dock -- 66 feet long, 19 feet wide and 7 feet tall -- came from the port of Misawa, in Aomori Prefecture in the northern part of Japan. The metal plaque was dated June 2008. The consulate spokesman said the dock was able to float due to being made of concrete and styrofoam. "The surface is concrete, there's some steel cables, inside is styrofoam," Murabayashi said. "That's why it floats on the sea. The dock itself doesn't contain any hazardous materials." The owner of the dock doesn't want it back. "They said they don't wish to have it returned," Murabayashi said. "I believe it will be disposed (of) in Oregon." Havel said two possible options were being studied: salvage or demolition, and that it may take "one or two days" to decide what to do. "We're working with some salvage experts to get advice on whether it's even possible to move it, whether we have to wait for some certain conditions like another high tide or whether theres some other way to do it," he said. Kirk Tite, visiting the Oregon beach with his young son Trevor, said: "It's kind of scary seeing this wash up here, because we all surf. "If this crossed the Pacific Ocean and it's this big, that means that just about anything of our worst nightmares could cross the Pacific Ocean. So we're kind of frightened of what's to come." A Japanese Placard On The Dock Identifies Zeniya Marine Services Company, Ltd. In Tokyo. The Company Builds Docks And Floating Structures, But Does Not Want This One Back. The Dock Was Covered with Native & Exotic Marine Organisms. These Organisms Are Salt Water-Dependent & Include Barnacles, Muscles & Marine Algaes. Some of The Organisms Can Only Be Found In Local Waters of Japan, Including An Invasive Marine Algae, Undaria Pinnatifida. To Avoid The Spread of Undaria Pinnatifida & Other Invasive Speacies The Dept. of Fish And Wildlife Pemoved All Organisms From The Dock. Our Other Featuresd About The Japanese Tsunamin of March 2011 "Tsunami Ghost Ship" - April 2012 "Japan Tsunami: Port of Sendai" - March 11 2011 "Japan Tsunami: The Shore Ships of Sendai Part 2" - March 11 2011 MAIN INDEX

Striking Beauty - F/V Matanuska - May 12 2012

Alaska Marine Highway System's 408-foot M/V Matanuska M/V Matanuska Appears A Bit Scuffed Up From The Cargo Letter - May 7 2012 The state ferry M/V Matanuska, one of the largest in the Alaska Marine Highway System's fleet, hit a Petersburg seafood processing plant's dock head-on May 7, causing significant damage. Jeremy Woodrow, a spokesman for the Alaska Dept. of Transportation., says the 408-foot Matanuska hit the dock belonging to Ocean Beauty Seafoods. The Petersburg Pilot reports the ferry struck the dock while performing a 360-degree maneuver, required in order for it to dock in Petersburg. The face of the Ocean Beauty cement dock was heavily damaged, dock pilings were broken and a crane was damaged. Even the second floor of the idled processing plant was damaged, with walls and outer walkways partially demolished. The Matanuska shows possible dents and scrapes to the bow of the ship. Petersburg Harbormaster Glorianne Wollen told the Pilot: "It wasn't a glancing blow. It pretty much was a head-on hit." There were no injuries in the incident. M/V Matanuska Striking Beauty   Alaska Marine Highway M/V Matanuska Hit The Dock While Negotiating A Turn in Wrangell Narrows Prior To Docking CONTRIBUTORS For This Feature: Stewart and Julie Amgwert - Palmer, Alaska MAIN INDEX

Ghostly Voyage - F/V Ryou-Un Maru - April 5 2012

The Amazing Unmanned Voyage of Squid Fisher F/V Ryou-Un Maru - True Ghost Ship Through Storms, Winds & Rouge Waves -- F/V Ryou-Un Maru Took Exactly One Year To Cover The 3,300 Miles U.S. Coast Guard Island-class Cutter USCGC Anacapa (WPB-1335) Pours 25 mm Fire Into F/V Ryou-Un Maru From The Cargo Letter - April 5 2012 U.S. Coast Guard Island-class cutter USCGC Anacapa (WPB-1335) poured cannon fire into a Japanese ghost ship that had been drifting since the last year's tsunami, sinking the vessel in the Gulf of Alaska and eliminating the hazard it posed to shipping and the coastline. The cutter's guns tore holes in the 164-foot F/V Ryou-Un Maru on April 5, ending its long, lonely journey across the Pacific that began when the deadly tsunami set it floating more than a year ago. The crew pummeled the ghost ship with high explosive ammunition, and the derelict F/V Ryou-Un Maru soon burst into flames, and began taking on water, officials said. A huge column of smoke could be seen over the gulf as a Coast Guard C-130 cargo plane, sent to observe the sinking, dropped a buoy to monitor for any possible pollution. The Coast Guard warned mariners to stay away, and aviation authorities did the same for pilots. In about four hours, the ship vanished into the water, said Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow in Juneau. It sank into waters more than 6,000 feet deep, about 180 miles west of the southeast Alaska coast, the Coast Guard said. Officials decided to sink the ship rather than risk the chance of it running aground or endangering other vessels in the busy shipping lanes between North America and Asia. The ship had no lights or communications system, and its tank was able to carry more than 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Officials, however, didn't know how much fuel, if any, was aboard. "It's less risky than it would be running into shore or running into (maritime) traffic," Coast Guard spokesman Paul Webb said. Island-class cutter USCGC Anacapa (WPB-1335) Surveys The Gunnery Damage Named For Anacapa Island, California, The Cutter Is Manned By 3 Officers & 19 Enlisted U.S. Coast Guard Gunnery Makes Its Mark The Long Voyage of The Japanese Ghost Ship F/V Ryou-Un Maru Is Over, As She Sank 6,000 Feet Deep In The Gulf of Alaska On 5 April, 2012 70% of The Earthquake Debris Was Concrete & Other Heavy Material Which Sank -- But NASA Graphic Shows The Remaining 30% - Some 1.5 Million Tons - Is Still fFoating Toward The U.S. West Coast Our Other Featuresd About The Japanese Tsunamin of March 2011 "Japan Tsunami: Port of Sendai" - March 11 2011 "Japan Tsunami: The Shore Ships of Sendai Part 2" - March 11 2011 MAIN INDEX

Carried Away - M/V Carrier M - April 7 2012

M/V Carrier In Better Days VESSEL DATA Type: Mini Bulkcarriers (1000-2000 GT) Ex Names: M/V Inga Call Sign: V2KS IMO no: 8504959 Builders: Husumer Schiffswerft Inh. Gebr. Kroger GmbH & Co. KG, Husum, DE Yard No: 1499 Delivery: 1985-10-25 Owner: Partenreederei M/V Carrier, GER Agent: Reederei Erwin Strahlmann, Schleusenstrasse 10, 25541 Brunsbuettel, GER Port of Registry: St. John's Flag: Antigua & BarbudaClass Hullull: GL 100 A5 M DBC DIMENSIONS Tonnage GT: 1587 Tonnage NT: 843 Deadweight: 2378 Lenght o.a: 82 Lenght b.p.:77.5 Breadth:11.3 Depth to maindeck: 5.4 Depth to tweendeck: 3.19 Draught (summer): 4.21 CARGO CAPACITY Grain [cbm]: 2904 Bale [cbm]: 2904 M/V Carrier Is Lashed By High Seas From The Cargo Letter - April 4 2012 Seven crew members have been rescued from stricken cargo M/V Carrier that ran aground off the Conwy coast in rough seas. Two lifeboats and a helicopter were called after the ship hit a rock near a quarry jetty at Llanddulas, near Colwyn Bay, Wales, UK. The ship is a coaster, which uses the jetty to load limestone. Oil has leaked from the ship carrying 40,000 litres of fuel which ran aground off north Wales, leading to concern over the threat to wildlife. There are three holes on the M/V Carrier's starboard, but high winds and rough sea are expected to help break up light diesel that leaked overnight. Riding The Riprap Clearly In The Wrong Lane From The Cargo Letter - April 7 2012 MV Carrier will be cut into "manageable" sections on the shore at Llanddulas, near Colwyn Bay, Wales, and sent to a scrap yard by road. The owners confirmed contractors will start the demolition once they remove the ship's 24,000 litres of fuel. The work is expected to take six weeks. Seven Polish crew had to rescued when the vessel ran aground April 3 2012. CONTRIBUTORS For This Feature: Ashley Black - Cargo Letter Correspondent in The UK Paul Hubbard MAIN INDEX

Another On The Italian Coast - M/T Gelsom M - March 11 2012

M/T Gelso M - IMO 9367360 - In Better Days -- Perhaps Her Last Days M/T Gelso M Has Has Grounded In Italy -- Engine Problems Gave Way To Storm Winds It Is Only Two Months After M/V Costa Concordia From The Cargo Letter - March 11 2012 - Two months after the M/V Costsa Concordia disaster, there is another dramatic grounding on the North Italian coast. M/T Gelson M ran aground in rough weather off Sicily on March 10 2012, the Italian coastguard said, adding that the 19 crew were taken off by helicopter and were safe amid worsening conditions. The 150-meter (500-foot) M/T Gelso M was driven on to rocks as it was planning to approach the port of Syracuse around 0800 GMT and began taking on water before the captain gave the order to abandon ship, the coastguard said in a statement. Coastguard spokesman Cosimo Nicastro said four helicopters airlifted the crew to safety and all were in good health. The ship, a tanker, was in ballast at the time of the incident, and its double hull meant there was a low risk of pollution but the environment ministry was alerted nonetheless. The position of the ship made it impossible for surface craft to approach and the coastguard called for more aerial assistance from the navy and the air force. Rescue service sources suggested that given the conditions the captain had been sailing too close to the coast. Rome-based ship owner Augusta Due said the cargo ship ran aground "because of a force 10 storm in the early morning", adding that "an engine had problems because of the ship's movements during the storm". Smit Salvage has been hired by the owners of the Costa Concordia to pump thousands of tonnes of fuel from the stricken cruise liner lying on its side off the northwest Italian coast. The Gelso M was on its way from the Venice port of Mestre to Augusta north of Syracuse where it was to load a fuel shipment. Italian Coast Guard Rescues 9 Crew Members From Stricken M/T Gelso M Four Helicopters Participated In The Rescue M/T Gelso M Ship Type: Oil/chemical tanker Year Built: 2008 Length x Breadth: 147 m X 22 m Gross Tonnage: 11422, DeadWeight: 17999 t Speed Recorded (Max / Average): 12.6 / 10.4 knots Flag: Italy [IT]  Call Sign: ICHH IMO: 9367360, MMSI: 247229900 M/T Gelso M In Repose -- Another Tricky Salvage VIDEO of The Event M/T Gelso M #1 M/T Gelso M #2 CONTRIBUTOR For This Feature: Fontanassa MAIN INDEX

Moon Struck - M/V Stena Feronia - March 7 2012

A Collision In The Night M/V Union Moon (foreground) & M/V Stena Feronia (background) From The Cargo Letter - March 8 2012 - Ro/ro ferry M/V Stena Feronia and cargo M/V Union Moon have collided near Belfast, Ireland, close to the Fairway buoy about a mile and a half from shore between Carrickfergus and Helen's Bay around 19:45 GMT on March 7 2012. There were no injuries. The Stena Line ferry subsequently docked at the Stena terminal. M/V Union Moon - was accompanied by the coastguard as it was brought back to Belfast. M/V Stena Feronia was on her way from Birkenhead, Merseyside, to Belfast when the collision happened. One female passenger who was on the ferry said she was just sitting in her cabin when she heard a "massive bang". "Then all the sirens went and we went downstairs and we were all issued with life jackets and told to prepare to get off in the raft," she said. "I was scared, but the staff were great, very good. They put us all at ease." Cahill Loughran was also on board with his wife and four children. "They said we might have to get into lifeboats, they weren't sure what the damage was, and then the captain came on and said the damage was above the waterline," he said. The Stena ferry arrived safely back at its terminal in Belfast, "There was a hole, but it was above the waterline." M/V Union Moon was carrying 2,000 tonnes of aggregate (stones). The Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch and the police are all involved in the investigation. Engineers from Stena Irish Sea are currently assessing the damage to the vessel to see how long it will be out of service. The 55-year old Master of M/V Union Moon will appear in court on March 9 to face charges of operating the vessel while intoxicated. The Master of M/V Union Moon Is Cited For Suspected Intoxication A Window On The Soul of M/V Stena Feronia Collision Gash Exposes Interior of Vehicle Deck CONTRIBUTORS For This Feature: Ashley Black Charles Emberton MAIN INDEX

Log Jammed - M/V Dry Beam - Feb. 5 2012

M/V Dry Beam As She Arrived At Victoria, B.C. On Feb. 5 2012 From The Cargo Letter - Feb. 2 2012 - Log Jammed The 186-metre cargo M/V Dry Beam arrived at Ogden Poin, Victoria, British Columbia, Canad on Feb. 5 2012, with its massive vertical support beams bent like matchsticks and its load of logs shoved askew by a rogue wave on the North Pacific. The vessel was en route to Japan from Longview, Washington, when it ran into trouble, lost some logs and issued a mayday call Feb. 2 2012 night about 480 kilometers off northern Vancouver Island. A rogue wave had pummelled the ship's port side and caused many of the raw logs on the deck to shift toward the starboard side. None of the 23 Filipino crew aboard the 26,000-ton vessel was hurt. The damaged vessel limped into port at Ogden Point in Victoria on Feb. 5, escorted from the high seas by U.S. and Canadian coast guard vessels. The wave that slammed into the port side was 10-to-15 meters high, said Capt. Jostein Hoddevik, principal surveyor with IMS Marine Surveyors of Burnaby. "It would have a lot of water behind it, a lot of force," Hoddevik said at Ogden Point on Monday. He was aboard the vessel to assess the damage and review the incident on behalf of the ship's insurers. A qualified captain with experience crossing the Atlantic, Hoddevik said there is little the crew could have done to avoid the wave. The incident occurred in an area of the north Pacific that's notorious for monstrous waves and punishing seas, he said. The currents and wave patterns combine to make this a highly dangerous area. "Several of the accidents I've been investigating have come from the same general location &emdash; a small area." M/V Dry Beam was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he said. "The timing of the wave would be crucial." Cargo vessels are damaged by waves like this off the West Coast once or twice a year, he said. Sometimes the damage is relatively minor and the vessel can continue on to its destination. At times, the vessel must return to port for repairs. M/V Dry Beam lost a few of her logs and others were dangling off the starboard side as she arrived in Victoria. The vessel will need extensive repairs before it is seaworthy again, Hoddevik added. The bent stanchions on the port side will be cut off, and the logs removed and put on another ship or barge. Massive Vertical Support Beams Bent Like Matchsticks There Are Many Who Mistake The Fury of The North Pacific Ocean Longshoremen of I.L.W.U. Canada Local 508 Assist M/V Dry Beam CONTRIBUTORS For This Feature: Cam Bremner Barry Campbell - ILWU Local 500, Burnaby, B.C. Canada MAIN INDEX

Capsize of Cruise M/V Rabaul Queen - Feb. 2 2012

OVER 100 PASSRNGERS THOUGHT DEAD  The RO/RO Cruise Ferry M/V Rabaul Queen In Better Days Her Waters Were In Paradise -- But She Is No More M/V Rabaul Queen Class & Type: Passenger/Ro-Ro Ferry IMO Number: 8351297 Built: Japan, 1983 for PNG's Rabaul Shipping Operator: Star Ships Owsner: Rabaul Shipping Tonnage: 259 GT (gross tonnage) Length: 155 ft (47 m) Crew: 12 M/V Rabaul Queen Has Sunk With An Estimated 100 Or More Dead Just South On This Map, And To The Right, Is The Great Barrier Reef, And Australia's Famous "Gold Cost" From The Cargo Letter - Feb. 2 2012 - currently about 100 feared dead MV Rabaul Queen a 259 GT (gross ton) Papua New Guinea-flagged passenger/ro-ro ferry. Built in Japan in 1983 for PNG's Rabaul Shipping Co., the ferry plied a regular route between Kimbe, the capital of West New Britain, and Lae, the capital of the mainland province of Morobe. On 2 February 2012, she sank some 9 nautical miles (16 km.) off Finschhafen, on her way from Kimbe to Lae. 12 crew and an estimated 350 passengers were aboard at the time.[ A joint rescue effort by Papua New Guinea and Australia rescued 238 survivors, with over 120 still missing as of 3 February. Survivors told rescuers that large waves had hit the vessel just before it sank. Many survivors were rescued by six merchant vessels alerted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which had been alerted by Rabaul Shipping that the ferry had disappeared from a satellite tracking system. Cause of the loss is currently stated as "capsize" -- but there are no details. Identification of the passengers thus far is stated to include Australians. UPDATE - Feb 3 2012 A day after rescuing nearly 250 survivors of a ferry sinking off Papua New Guinea's east coast, crews searchingFeb. 3 for more than 110 other people aboard found only one more. Many of the missing may still be in the vessel, now at the bottom of the sea. MV Rabaul Queen sank Feb. 2, in rough seas, and big waves and strong winds made rescue efforts difficult. Asingle survivor was located Feb. 3, bringing the number of rescued to 247. Rony Naigu, a National Maritime Safety Authority official, told ABC News about 100 people are thought to have been trapped inside when the ship was hit by three large waves and sank. "The sea was really rough, windy, big waves. The boat tilted once, then twice, then three times and it went over," said Alice Kakamara, who was recovering in a Lea hospital Feb. 3, after inhaling toxins during the sinking. "There was oil everywhere," she said. The ferry's owners, Papua New Guinea-based Rabaul Shipping Company, said there had been 350 passengers and 12 crew aboard the 22-year-old Japanese-built ferry when it went down Feb. 2 morning while traveling from Kimbe on the island of New Britain to the coastal city of Lae on the main island. A police official said most of those aboard were students. "We are stunned and utterly devastated by what has happened," managing director Peter Sharp said in a statement. The company said the cause of the disaster remained unclear, but National Weather Service chief Sam Maiha told Papua New Guinea's Post-Courier newspaper that shipping agencies had been warned to keep ships moored this week because of strong winds. By nightfall Feb. 2, 246 survivors had been rescued by merchant ships battling 16-foot (5-meter) swells and 45 mph (75 kph) winds at the disaster scene 50 miles (80 km) east of Lae and 10 miles (16 km) from shore, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. The sea temperature was above 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) &emdash; warm enough for people to survive for an extended period. Most of those rescued had been wearing life jackets. The 155-foot (47-meter) cruise/ferry sank in 3,300-foot (one-kilometer) deep water, making it difficult to determine whether bodies were trapped inside. The survivors were delivered to Lae, the South Pacific country's second-largest city, by five ships early Feb. 3. "None of them had sustained any real injuries. They were pretty cold and miserable," Lae Chamber of Commerce president Alan McLay told Sky News television. The search continued at first light Feb. 3, with three ships, two airplanes and two helicopters, AMSA said. An angry crowd threw stones at the Kimbe office of Rabaul Shipping Company on Feb. 2 night, outraged at a lack of information, police said. The company said the ferry's captain had made routine radio contact with another vessel before sinking and gave no indication anything was wrong. The accident remains unknown, but safety in the shipping industry in PGN is known to be lax. CONTRIBUTOR For This Feature: Gervase Pearce - BCS Consulting, Neutral Bay, Australia MAIN INDEX

Capsize of Cruise M/V Costa Concordia - Jan. 13 2012

. The Cargo Letter - Jan. 13 2012 - Capsize of M/V Costa Concordia Italian officials say at least three people were killed and several injured when luxury cruise M/V Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Tuscany onJan. 13 2012. That is fewer dead than first reported. Authorities say more than 4,000 passengers and crew members were aboard M/V Costa Concordia when she ran into trouble near the Tuscan island of Giglio. Passengers were sitting down to dinner at the time of the incident. One passenger told Italian media the ensuing panic onboard the ship was "like a scene from the Titanic." Some of those onboard are reported to have jumped into the icy waters to escape the badly listing ship that began taking on water through a gash in the hull. Officials say a rescue operation using lifeboats and helicopters has evacuated passengers and crew to the island of Giglio and to Porto Santo Stefano on the mainland. The accommodations on the 290-meter long, 13-deck M/V Costa Concordia included 13 bars, 5 restaurants, 4 swimming pools and 500 balcony staterooms. M/V Costa Concordia has capsized and is sinking. This Is Likely The End of M/V Costa Concordia SPECIAL NOTE: This Loss Is Now A Full Feature -- "COSTA LOT" -- the Story of M/V Cpsta Concordia Visit this new photo feature MAIN INDEX

No Smoking, Welding OK - Explosion At Fujairah - Jan. 2012

Crude Oil Tanker M/T Prem Divya M/T Prem Divya IMO 9138599 DWT 109227 Built: Dec. 1996 Flag: India Manager/Owner: Anglo-Eastern Some 105 local repair workers and crew were on board when welding work created a spark that triggered three blasts on the tanker M/T Prem Divya on Dec 29 2011 in Fujairah port, UAE, where tanker was undergoing repairs. Explosions left three people dead, one injured and two missing. Half of the 24-man crew are now staying in hotels, and the other half would remain with the vessel. The tanker had arrived in Fujairah on December 27 for 10 days of scheduled maintenance repairs. Workers from local firms had come to check the pipes and do welding in the engine room and other repairs and maintenance. It is not clear where the explosion occurred but early reports suggest hot work in the pump room ; however where ever the work was being undertaken the vessel clearly was not gas free. Also attached is an eye witness comment from a vessel anchored about 0.5 nm from the subject vessel when the explosion occurred. Here is an eye witness comment from a vessel anchored about 0.5 NM from the subject vessel when the explosion occurred. "All kindly note that own Vessel M.T. xxxxxx anchored in "A" anchorage Fujairah about 0.5NM of M.T. Prem Divya. Own vessel noticed that hotwork on deck and on bridge wing was going on at about 1745 LT. Suddenly a heavy explosion took place on M.T. Prem Divya and vessel was on flames and full of smoke forward of accommodation.. Own vessel immediately prepared M/E and gave astern movement to increase the distance from that vessel as it was anchored ahead of own vessel. own vessel immediately started deck water and started spraying water on own deck as a safety measures and immediately started picking up anchor.. All crew of that vessel found standing on poop deck aft for help. Own vessel informed to port control the situation and requested for immediate rescue as the communication system of that vessel was completely broken.3 rescue boats came near to that vessel In the meantime one more explosion took place on M.T. Prem Divya which completely shattered the vessel. All rescue boats went away to save themselves. Own vessel coordinated most of the communication between port control and the distress ship. Distress vessel was communicating with GMDSS W/T which the port control was unable to read properly. Own vessel picked up anchor and moved away to safe position and re-anchored. As learnt from communication there were 90 work shop people boarded the vessel for carrying out various jobs in E/R , deck and pump room. While carrying out hotwork in pump room explosion took place.3 persons working in pump room are still missing . The ship is presently having 10 deg list to Stbd due ingush of water . The fire-fighting tug continuously spraying water on vessel . The Master and 2/O are on board , the rescue team from port is also on board searching for the causalities. There is total black out on the vessel The cause of fire seems to be hot work in pump room on non gas-free tanker. No hot work to be allowed on any tanker unless it is very urgent and that also to be done with ship completely gas free with no slops on board, taking all other precautions. Kindly note that all hot work jobs to be positively identified specially on deck, cargo tanks and pump rooms and to be done in dry dock not left for ship staff with limited resources. Believe me seeing a tanker exploding like a bomb at a distance of 0.5 NM is really frightening and it also teaches a big lesson." CONTRIBUTOR For This Feature:    Mark Baker - Technical Superintendent, Gulf Energy Maritime (GEM) PJSC, Dubai, UAE Seems likely that they were trying to complete steel renewals before dry-docking, as regulations are more onerous in the dry dock and of course it is more expensive. MAIN INDEX

Aboard The Polar Express - Adirondack Scenic Railroad - Dec. 11 2011

Adirondack Scenic Railroad's Alco RS-18 ready For Polar Express Runs Polar Express - Hear The Music Departing Union Station, Utica, New York Daily For A Magical Ride To The North Pole More Christmas Tains I enjoyed the picture of the Adirondack Scenic Railway Christmas train. You may not be aware that CP Rail runs a Christmas train every year complete with entertaiment (the entertainers live in a couple of beautiful private cars). The train (actually 2 of them) goes across Canada and the U.S. One boxcar has been modified to serve as a stage. People are asked to bring donations to local food banks when they come to see the train. It is, I understand, an all volunteer effort by CP Rail, its yard workers who decorate the trains and the crews that man it. Canadian Pacific Holiday Train Canadian Pacific Holiday Train Blog Canadian Pacific Holiday Train 2011 On You Tube Canadian Pacific Holiday Train 2011 Departure Pat Smith CONTRIBUTOR For This Feature:    Rich. BausPat Smith MAIN INDEX

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