Tanker Collision Spills Oil into Gulf Of Mexico...

[wildbilln864]

Source: WS Journal

"U.S. Coast Guard crews scrambled Wednesday to clean a large fuel spill in the Gulf of Mexico amid rough seas, after a rare collision in the busy petroleum shipping lane.

"In this sea state, it will be virtually impossible to contain," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Prentice Danner. He said there were five-foot waves and strong winds in the area where the collision occurred, about 40 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas.

The spill involved 18,000 gallons of fuel oil, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. That makes it just the third-largest spill related to oil and natural-gas activities in U.S. waters this year, according to the Minerals Management Service."

link :banghead:

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125614318305099285.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories

[Vehl]

1. Fine the company Billions!

That's the only way to stop these people from doing this again.

[kestrel91316]

3. I say we start taking the board members hostage and every time there is

a spill, we shoot one. We could grab the family members, too.

Fining them hasn't worked in the past, obviously. Drastic measures are called for.

[WriteDown]

5. Shouldn't we be after the ships captains?

:shrug:

[One_Life_To_Give]

11. Concider the Titanic

Should one courageous Captain take a stand the owners would likely replace him/her. So unless you create an environment where most all the Captains won't be willing to take the risk it probably won't have much of an effect.

[WriteDown]

13. But the captain was the one who crashed...

:shrug:

[One_Life_To_Give]

15. And the CG will cite the Captain

Probably both Capatains will be found atleast partially at fault. Doesn't specify in the article which country they are licenced in. Although the smaller vessels are most likely US based and CG licenced Captain. Maybe the CG Penalty should be higher, not sure just what the CG will do in such a case. In a more egregious case they would suspend the Captains Licence.

[One_Life_To_Give]

2. For lack of a Deepwater Port

Close quarters manuevering in strong winds leads to these types of incidents. A sheltered anchorage capable of accomodating the more economical large tankers is about the only true solution. Manuvering in these conditions is largely dependent upon the skill of the bridge crew/Captain and not something easily automated.

[Turbineguy]

6. Hey!

Watch it!

Only kneejerk reaction posts allowed.

Alerting for common sense content.

[tridim]

4. Did they ever clean up the thousands of spills during Katrina?

[liberal N proud]

7. Save this as an example why we should not expand drilling in the Gulf

[Stumbler]

8. Spill, baby, Spill!

Can anyone remind me why we AREN'T using electric vehicles powered by the free, clean energy provided by wind and solar? Anyone?

Oh yeah, because the military/industrial/corporate/Congressional/media/pharmaceutical complex is in power, and doesn't want to risk "spreading their wealth" on anything that might lend We the People a helping hand. Spill, baby, Spill!

[wildbilln864]

9. Welcome to the DU.

:hi:

[AndyA]

10. How in the hell could two big ships collide in the gulf?

It's not like there's restricted line of sight. They don't move that fast, how could they not see the other ship?

[WriteDown]

12. Hard to see through a bottle of Jack Daniels....

You really need to remove the label.

[One_Life_To_Give]

14. Close Quarter Manuevering

These were ships that had just been excahnging cargo at the offshore transfer area. When you have to get close enough to swing suppplies back and forth by Crane. You have the risk that if you don't anticipate the correct level of Wind force/drift or a momentary lapse in an observers report. With vessels of that size it doesn't take much. Go down to your local marina on a windy day and watch people try to get on and off the dock. It would be hillarious if it wasn't for the risk of bodily injury to those who really need to learn better.