Ferry sinks in Amazon collision

From the BBC

At least three people have been killed and 20 are reported missing after a ferry sank as a result of a collision with a barge on the Brazilian Amazon.

They collided during the night near Itacoatiara in the jungle state of Amazonas, and most victims seem to have been trapped in cabins on the ferry.

More than 100 people were aboard the ferry at the time, local sources say.

A rescue official said the chances of finding any of the 20 people missing alive were remote.

A navy vessel and a helicopter are being used to help in the search operation.

Lunar eclipse

State fire spokesman Lt Clovis Araujo said a nearby floating police station and a number of small boats had rescued 92 people from the ferry, the Almirante Monteiro.

There were no reports of damage or casualties aboard the heavy goods barge, he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

The confirmed dead, he added, were a woman and two children.

State public safety department spokesman Aguinaldo Rodrigues said that nearly all the survivors appeared to be passengers sleeping in hammocks on the ferry's deck.

While it was too early to establish the cause of the collision, he added, visibility had been "very poor" during the lunar eclipse which began on Wednesday night.

The collision happened on an isolated stretch of the river.

The ferry had a capacity of 165 passengers but was not full at the time of the accident.

An inquiry will now be launched to try to establish the cause of the collision and an initial report is expected within 90 days.

U.S. Can Claim More Arctic Territory

Study: U.S. Territory Extends Farther Into Oil-Rich Region

This map shows the Arctic region, with a highlighted area north of Alaska that was surveyed by NOAA and University of New Hampshire researchers during expeditions in 2003, 2004 and 2007.

Photo: UNH/NOAA

By Dan Shapley

After three years of expeditions to the Arctic, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of New Hampshire have made a discovery that is convenient for U.S. interests in an oil-starved world over-heated up by global warming.

The continental slope of Alaska, they say, extends 100 nautical miles farther under the Arctic Sea than previously thought. That means the U.S. can claim greater territory north of Alaska, should it ever get around to signing the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. That 25-year-old international treaty allows signatories to claim territory based in part on the extent of the continental shelf.

“We found evidence that the foot of the slope was much farther out than we thought,” said Larry Mayer, expedition chief scientist and co-director of the Joint Hydrographic Center at UNH. “That was the big discovery.”

Russia, in its Arctic expeditions last year, during which seamen planted a titanium flag on the sea floor at the North Pole, claimed that its territorial claims were supported by new maps of the continental shelf. Three other countries also can claim territory in the Arctic.

The territory matters now more than ever, as the world's oil supply declines and global warming continues to melt the Arctic. Significant oil reserves are believed to be locked beneath the ice, but as the climate warms, they could become accessible. Last summer, Arctic sea ice retreated to the greatest extent ever recorded.

Coastal nations have sovereign rights over the natural resources of their continental shelf, generally recognized to extend 200 nautical miles out from the coast. The Law of the Sea Convention, now under consideration in the U.S. Senate, provides nations an internationally recognized basis to extend their sea floor resource rights beyond the foot of the continental slope if they meet certain geological criteria backed up by scientific data.

“We now have a better geologic picture of what’s happening in that area of the Arctic,” said NOAA Office of Coast Survey researcher Andy Armstrong, co-chief scientist on the expedition and NOAA co-director of the Joint Hydrographic Center. “These are valuable data for NOAA and the United States, and I’m pleased that we’re making them available for anyone to use.”

UNH/ NOAA

Above: A view of the Arctic sea floor.

UNH/ NOAA

Above: The Chukchi Borderland, a region of the Arctic sea floor north of Alaska.

Shipwreck timber littering coast

From the BBC

Timber from the Ice Prince is washed up on Worthing beach. Enlarge Image

Beaches along the south coast of England will remain closed indefinitely to prevent looters taking away more than 2,000 tonnes of washed-up timber.

The wood, several feet deep on the tide line, is from the Greek-registered Ice Prince which sank about 26 miles (42km) off Dorset after a storm last Tuesday.

Beaches along the Sussex coast from Ferring as far east as Hastings have been littered with the timber.

Dover Coastguard said it was likely more would wash up on Kent's beaches.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) said its beaches, which were the worst affected, would be out of bounds to the public for the foreseeable future.

The salvage operation is being carried out by contractors authorised by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

See the "wood slick" In pictures: Sinking ship Scavengers' wood warning

WSCC said there were unconfirmed reports of minor damage to sea defences.

It said people taking the wood had become a "serious problem".

A spokesman said: "Lots of people have been turning up, including men in vans taking a load - a significant number of people."

Sussex Police has issued a warning to say removing the timber is unlawful, and if people continue to take the wood, they could be liable to prosecution and arrest under the Merchant Shipping Act.

Safety warnings

The Marine Conservation Society warned on Monday that 313 tonnes of fuel oil remained on the vessel and required urgent removal.

However, it said the fuel tanks appeared at present to be still intact.

"The Ice Prince lies adjacent to a commercial fishery for flatfish species such as plaice and sole, and seabirds such as razorbill and guillemot," said a spokesman.

Worthing beach was closed at the weekend to allow heavy machinery to remove the washed-up cargo.

Wendy Knight, from Worthing Borough Council, said the ship's owners had appointed contractors to find a market for the timber which would then be sold.

Barriers and cordons were being erected along the beach, with "public safety the key element".

Mariners, windsurfers and canoeists have been warned that the floating wood could cause a serious accident.

The 10m (33ft) lengths of sawn wood were put on board in bundles, but sea conditions broke many of them apart.

Another ship strikes Bay Area Bridge

January 12, 2008

Two months after an oil spill blackened San Francisco Bay, authorities Friday were investigating what caused another vessel to hit one of the region's signature bridges.

This time, a 300-foot barge loaded with oil struck a piling that supports the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, but no oil spilled. The accident occurred in dense fog and darkness about 6 p.m. Thursday, U.S. Coast Guard officials said. The crews of two tugboats that were towing the oil barge Cascade passed sobriety tests.

Bay authorities said a spill from the barge, which can carry more than 3 million gallons, might have dwarfed the Nov. 7 accident, when the 900-foot container ship Cosco Busan sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and dumped 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel oil into the bay.

That spill killed thousands of seabirds, and the commercial crab season was delayed as heavy, toxic goo blackened beaches throughout the region. Local officials criticized the Coast Guard for initially downplaying the severity of that spill, and some suggested the initial response was too little, too late.

On Thursday evening, Coast Guard boats responded within 17 minutes of receiving word.

From the LA Times
eric.bailey@latimes.com

Father and son saved in Atlantic

A father and son from the Isles of Scilly were rescued after their yacht got into trouble in rough seas while crossing the Atlantic.

Peter Kyne, 48, called for help after the yacht Spam lost its mast and started taking in water about 750m (1,207km) from the Caribbean.

The yacht was on the same route as the ARC race, and a nearby boat responded to a mayday call.

Mr Kyne, his son Alan, 17, and another man, 33, were all helped to safety.

The yacht lost its mast and started taking in water after developing holes in strong winds.

'Good communications'

Mr Kyne used a satellite phone to call for help from the 9.3m (30.5ft) long yacht, which was not taking part in the ARC race.

A spokesman for Falmouth Coastguard said: "The yacht was well-equipped with good communications and all the necessary life saving apparatus.

"The men were instructed to stay with the yacht as long as it stayed afloat, but ready to evacuate to a life raft if required."

Coastguards contacted ARC race control who were able to broadcast to all their race yachts as well as making a distress relay broadcast into the area.

Another yacht that was accompanying the race responded to the distress calls and picked them up.

The crew were being taken to St Lucia and were described as being "safe and well". The yacht Spam is later believed to have sunk.

The ARC yacht race goes from Las Palmas De Gran Canaria to finish at Rodney Bay St Lucia in the Caribbean.