Rhine River Closed!!! Tanker with sulphuric acid capsizes!!!

Rhine River Closed!!! Tanker with sulphuric acid capsizes!!!

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13 Jan 2011 ... A tanker carrying at least 2200 tons of sulfuric acid has capsized in the Rhine River in Germany's western Rhineland-Palatinate state.
Acid tanker capsizes on River Rhine
(UKPA) – 3 hours ago

A tanker loaded with sulphuric acid has capsized on the Rhine in Germany and rescuers are trying to find two missing crew members.

It was not know why the ship capsized near St Goarshausen. The other two crew members were rescued.

The ship was carrying 2,400 tons of sulphuric acid. Initial measurements carried out downstream from the scene showed no abnormalities and there we

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Related News Links:
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This could be catastrophic if it leaks, sulphuric acid in the river could only escalate into a mess to say the least. There are no reports of it leaking yet beu hopefully she stays tight. I I will supply further links for those interested.

quote
The 360-foot tanker Waldhof, bound for the Belgium port of Antwerp, rolled over near the town of St. Goarshausen where the Rhine flows through a narrow gorge famed for the high slate Lorelei cliffs.

Concerned that the Waldhof's cargo of highly corrosive liquid might spill into the river authorities decided to close Europe's busiest waterway to traffic.

Martin Maurmann, a spokesman for Germany's Federal Shipping Agency, said he was unsure just how long the river would remain closed.

Experts warned that high water levels and strong currents could hamper salvage efforts.

Police also launched a "desperate" search for two missing sailors, using helicopters and infrared cameras to comb a river swollen with melted snow and with water temperatures at 4 degrees Celsius.

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Two other crewmen were taken to hospital after being rescued, and police said they were "in a good condition given the circumstances".

Ralf Schomisch, a maritime police spokesman, said that an initial assessment of the ship's hull had revealed no significant damage and "there does not seem to have been any acid leakage into the water". Large sections of the ship's infrastructure did, however, sustain significant damage.

The cause of the sinking was unclear. "We cannot explain why the tanker capsized," said Mr Schomisch. "There was no involvement with another ship. The ship was moving normally when it suddenly disappeared from radar screens."

The Rhine at Lorelei narrows to just 24 yards and has an infamous reputation for its treacherous waters and hidden rocks.

According to local legend, a beautiful siren bewitches sailors on the river causing them to wreck their boats.


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This just sounds bad all the way.
thanks

First the Danube, now the Rhine. I won't even get into the Ganges. Well I did once. Never again though. Never again.

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


Yep i only hope that whatever containers are there holding it in stays that way. This could be catastrophic if this leaks.:dn
The Waldhof barge is carrying 2,400 tonnes of sulphuric acid!!! thats a hefty figure. Hope it doesnt leak. Will be interesting to find out why or what caused it to capsise?

reply to post by jazz10


Yea I am hoping with you that they are sealed good. As corrosive of material that is the clean up would be difficult. And yes yet another catastrophic event potentially.

reply to post by Ophiuchus 13


The cause of the sinking was unclear. "We cannot explain why the tanker capsized," said Mr Schomisch. "There was no involvement with another ship. The ship was moving normally when it suddenly disappeared from radar screens."

The Rhine at Lorelei narrows to just 24 yards and has an infamous reputation for its treacherous waters and hidden rocks.

According to local legend, a beautiful siren bewitches sailors on the river causing them to wreck their boats.

Well if thats the case then what caused it? A hidden rock? A fault? Deliberate? Should be interesting.

Just hope it doesn't start leaking its cargo. Also hope they fine the 2 missing crew members. here's what Yahoo have to say about it:

uk.news.yahoo.com...

Netherlands here, the Rhine flows trough our country AFTER is comes from Germany,

I hope this thing will not leak, because they announced high water , this means that eventual pollution will not only be in the river, but also on the land between the dikes.
Also blokking the river will be much harder, the timing could not be worse.

While i read this I'm watching a Parliament debate about the chemical disaster fire from last week... Nice start of a year.)

"Police also launched a "desperate" search for two missing sailors, using helicopters and infrared cameras to comb a river swollen with melted snow and with water temperatures at 4 degrees Celsius"


F!@#$%@#$% the two men get this F@#$@# boat out of the water ASAP before the son of ..... starts LEAKING

Could the sulfuric acid have eaten throught the hull? Hope that this is a very stupid guess.

People are saying I hope it was sealed when you click on the link the page you go to you have click on acid pours into the rine. that might be a catchy title to grab your attention but if its true this is truly sad most wildlife will probably die

reply to post by EartOccupant


Very good point. If waters rise or flooding.......in fact isnt Germany having floods anyway?
Im sure they are!!!
Very good point this could if they leak could kill a lot more than the river.



German cities threatened by flooding after winter thaw
A boat was the only form of transport in Zell in southern Germany Rivers in many parts of Germany have burst their banks, flooding several cities, because of melting winter snow.

In the west, the Rhine has overflowed in Bonn and Cologne and levels are set to peak in Koblenz where it meets the River Mosel.

Firefighters are searching for a man whose car was found abandoned in the central state of Thuringia beside the swollen River Unstrut.

The body of a kayaker was pulled from the River Enz in the south.

Experts are blaming the high river levels on the record amounts of snow that fell in December and the sharp rise in temperatures that has brought about a fast thaw.

Up to 30 villages in the wine-growing area south of Koblenz on the River Mosel have been flooded but the centre of attention appears to be Koblenz itself, where the Mosel flows into the Rhine at Deutsches Eck.

Some low-lying areas of Koblenz are already under water and officials expect the waters to reach 7.7m (25ft) on Monday afternoon. The normal level is around 2.4m, reports say.

In Cologne, river levels are not expected to reach their peak until Tuesday, although two districts have already been affected.

Commercial shipping has been banned for a long stretch of the Rhine, south of Cologne towards Bingen.

In eastern Germany, the River Oder's levels have begun receding but the authorities are still concerned about the Elbe whose tributaries are still said to be rising, reports say.

reply to post by jazz10


Although I am unfamiliar with the exact technical specifications of such things, a tanker which carries corrosive chemicals is specialy modified to do so. Therefore, one would assume that a certain level of strength is built into the design of the containment hold, if not the ship around it.
Of course , however it is stored, there is the chance it COULD leak, but in the case of such a very hazardous material, one would have thought that the container it is in would have to take one hell of a knock to split or crack.

reply to post by TrueBrit


I totally agree. However the vessel has been breached but still unclear as to a spill as yet.
The cause may have been due to recent flooding, maybe something was washed into the area that sat on the bottom?

I only hope that a tanker in the same spot carrying an equal amount of sodium bicarbonate capsizes right away.

That is a lot of acid. However if this is a fast moving waterway with strong currents it might not be that bad. It's when is hits the ocean or large body of water where most of its effect will be realized near the mouth.

Hopefully they've got lined & pressure compensated tanks to contain the mess until an in situ recovery can be implemented..

reply to post by jazz10


Well the SHIP may have been breached but I doubt that the hull of the ship is as tough as the containment vessel that the actual chemicals are stored in. They have to be three ways insulated from sparks and so forth, they are plated up to the eyeballs and coated in non corrosive coatings. Put it this way, if something that could peirce the hull of the ship, is capable of peircing the containment hold, then they built the ship wrong. You ought to be able to blunt a nuke on one of those things!

Heres a quick update of whats happening regarding this incident in Germany
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Heres latest from Reuters
* Capsized ship carrying acid still blocks river

* High water also stops river shipping

* Acid has not escaped from vessel


HAMBURG, Jan 14 (Reuters) - A capsized tanker of sulphuric acid blocking the river Rhine in central Germany could take days to remove, a spokesman for the German inland navigation authority said on Friday.

A vessel carrying 2,400 tonnes of acid had capsized on Thursday at Loreley near Wiesbaden. [ID:nNNLDE70C0]

"It is still unclear how long salvage operations will last but this could take several days as floating cranes have to be brought in," the spokesman said.

None of the vessel's cargo was believed to have leaked into the river, he said. The search for two missing crew members was continuing.

The Rhine has also been blocked to shipping at Koblenz because of rising water levels following rain, he said.

The ship was carrying acid for German chemicals company BASF (BASFn.DE) from its works in Ludwigshafen in Germany to the Belgian port of Antwerp.

The vessel was of a modern type with a double hull -- two layers of hull plating -- which would restrain pollution, the authority said.

The Rhine is an important shipping route for commodities including grain, minerals, coal and oil products including heating oil. It is a major route for Switzerland's commodity imports.

Does anybody have an update on this i hope it never spilt into the river