(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On 18 August 1990, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) was enacted into law in the USA. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez spilled over 11 million gallons of Alaskan crude into the water of Prince William Sound. There were many lessons learned the aftermath of the Valdez oil spill. Two of the most obvious…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) On 11 August 2001, the motor vessel Windoc and the Allanburg Bridge suffered an allision. Ship-bridge allisions are quite rare. The Allanburg Bridge (also referred to as Bridge 11) is a lift bridge over the Welland Canal at Allanburg, Ontario. The Windoc was downbound and passing under the lift span when the span unexpectedly lowered. The vessel’s wheelhouse…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) Recent attacks against shipping off Fujairah and in the Gulf of Oman have caused great concern. On 13 June two tankers, in close proximity, suffered explosions and severe damage to hull and machinery whilst underway by what was reported to be multiple magnetic limpet mines. The explosions were at or above the waterline and…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) Thousands of horrified onlookers witnessed Chicago’s most deadly disaster on the morning of July 24, 1915. Warehouse workers along the Chicago River shouted, “Look out, she’s tipping!” Suddenly the fully-loaded passenger ship Eastland began her slow roll into infamy, killing 844 of the more than 2,500 passengers. It began as a leisurely boat ride to a summer picnic…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The La Bourgogne was built in 1885 at the Société Nouvelles de Forges et Chantiers de Médditerranée in La Seyne-sur-Mer, France for the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique better known as the French Line. She was a sleek looking ocean liner with four auxiliary sail rigged masts and twin funnels. La Bourgogne like many other passenger ships of the era, was…
(http://www.MaritimeCyprus.com) Portline Bulk International S.A. pleaded guilty in federal court in Charleston, South Carolina, to one count of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships and one count of Obstruction. The charges stem from the falsification of the Oil Record Book onboard the M/V Achilleus, a Maltese-flagged ocean-going bulk carrier ship managed by Defendant…
(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) If the ocean was an economy, it would be the seventh largest in the world. But instead of fostering it as a resource, humans are jeopardising its future – using it as a garbage dump and fishing it dry. Broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough has warned our waters are facing the biggest threat in their…
