Greek Tanker Athos I Oil Spill in PHILADELPHIA (from ATSNN), page 1

On Nov. 26 the Greek tanker Athos I struck a hidden hazard a few hundred feet before reaching the dock. The impact created a six foot gash in the single hulled vessel which was carrying nearly 14 million gallons of Venezuelan crude oil. The resulting accident spilled as much as 470,000 gallons of thick crude oil into the river spreading along 107 miles of the waterway. The cleanup is expected to take months and cost millions of dollars.

www.newsday.com
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ The Coast Guard on Thursday hauled up the submerged pipe it believes pierced the hull of an oil tanker in the Delaware River, causing an oil spill that has disrupted shipping, killed wildlife and covered more than 100 miles of shoreline with sticky black crude.

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This event has disrupted the local economy at several levels. The river was closed for several days as sonar scans were conducted to find the cause of the hull breach. This shut down several very busy shipping ports and rail centers.
The stretch of water way involved is dredged on a regular basis by the Army Corp of Engineers to ensure that the proper depth is maintained to facilitate passage of the larger shipping vessels. Citgo refinery who was to receive the oil shipment said that 25 ships with a draft equal to the Athos I had passed this point since January with out incident.
How is it that something of this size suddenly shows up. This obstacle is very large and sufficiently rigid enough to do this damage, is it something that the Army Corp would have over looked during its numerous dredges? It is common knowledge that these ships traverse the river with only a few foot of clearance in many places.

Is it possible that this huge piece of debris was strategically placed to cause such a ecologically and canonical catastrophe?

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[edit on 12/9/2004 by Notme]