Latest news with #SimonBoxall
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
A Submarine Full of Tourists Is Missing
Yet another submarine has gone missing — though this time, it wasn't headed to visit the wreck of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. This time, a vessel with 45 Russian tourists on board sank off the coast of a tourist resort in Hurghada, Egypt, in the Red Sea. As the BBC reports, at least six of the passengers are feared dead, with nine injured and 29 rescued. According to a Russian official in the area, at least five Russians were killed, two of whom were children. Two municipal officials told the Associated Press that six people had died. The submersible was reportedly organized by underwater tourism company Sindbad Submarines, which has been operating in the area for years. Its vessels can dive to maximum depths of around 82 feet, allowing tourists to "experience the beauty of the Red Sea's underwater world without getting wet," per the company's website, which appears to be down following the tragedy. To put that number into perspective, that's orders of magnitude shallower than the approximately 12,500 feet at which the domed OceanGate submersible imploded in 2023. Plenty of questions remain, and an immediate cause for the disaster has yet to be identified. It's nonetheless a terrifying incident, highlighting the dangers of embarking on these kinds of trips — and, possibly, lax safety measures that could've prevented it. There have been similar incidents in recent months. In November, 44 people on board a tourist yacht sank near a different Egyptian resort called Marsa Allam. Eleven people were presumed dead, per the BBC. And last month, a different tourist diving boat capsized in rough weather near Hurghada with six people on board. The latest disaster, which happened during light winds and calm waters, has raised concerns over safety standards in Egypt regarding seafaring vessels. The country is facing a "crisis on at the moment, in terms of safety on some of these tourist vessels," Southampton University oceanographer Simon Boxall told the BBC. More on submersibles: The Doomed Sub's Final Messages Before Imploding Are Pretty Grim
The Independent
11-03-2025
- The Independent
Cargo ship captain arrested after oil tanker collision in North Sea as experts warn coming hours are ‘critical'
The captain of a cargo vessel has been arrested after a collision with an oil tanker off the East Yorkshire coast, as experts warn the coming hours will be 'critical' in determining environmental impact of the crash. Owners of the Solong container ship confirmed its captain had been arrested, hours after Humberside Police said it had arrested a 59-year-old man on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter following the collision between the Portuguese vessel and US tanker Stena Immaculate. One crew member from the Solong is still missing and presumed dead, after a search and rescue operation was ended on Monday evening. Transport minister Mike Kane told MPs on Tuesday that the Solong 'continues to burn' at sea and said something went 'terribly wrong' for the crash to happen and there was 'no evidence' of foul play. Both vessels were engulfed in flames when the Stena Immaculate was struck by the Solong while anchored off the coast of Hull, causing 'multiple explosions' on board and an unknown quantity of Jet A-1 fuel to be released. There were concerns that the Solong was carrying containers of sodium cyanide on board, however this was later confirmed to not be the case. The transport secretary also said on Tuesday that it was now expected to stay afloat, after previous concerns that the vessel would sink. The incident has sparked anxiety from experts about the environmental impacts on wildlife and coastal communities - with the next 24 hours expected to be crucial in determining the extent of the damage. 'The next couple of hours will be critical in terms of can they stabilise the cargo vessel,' Dr Simon Boxall, an academic in oceanography at the University of Southampton, told The Independent. 'I understand the cargo ship is still burning and in danger of sinking. The big concern for the is knowing what is in those containers. The second problem is the bunker oil which powers the ship itself which can cause damage.' 'They will be doing their best to stabilise the Solong and get it to a stage where they can get it to a sandbank or take it in to the coast so they can then deal with the containers and the fuel on board itself.' He added that industries in the area will likely be impacted by the environmental damage the leaks have caused - with fishing bans potentially having to be put in place due to the waters now being contaminated. He said: 'It's going to have a big impact on fisheries, assuming there will be fishing ban put in for a short while until they can determine the level of pollution in the water.' Skipper owner Neil Robson, 63, who runs family-business Genesis Fishing Ltd, was on board his boat Genesis on Monday when a message came over the radio of the major collision. He told The Independent: 'There was a lot of panic and worry. When you hear something like this has happened you fear the worse. You worry for those out there at sea and hope they got out safe. 'You then worry that we are a facing a situation where we are all going to be looking for new jobs.' He added: "At the moment there is a five mile evacuation zone around the collision site, so not sure when we will be allowed back out, but we are hoping it will be tomorrow." Local wildlife trusts have raised concerns about the impact of any pollution from the two vessels on an array of species, including tens of thousands of birds and grey seals in the area. Crowley, the maritime company managing Stena Immaculate, said the vessel was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel in 16 segregated cargo tanks, at least one of which 'was ruptured' when it was struck. Jonathon Leadley, North Yorkshire regional manager for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, told The Independent that the Humber Estuary is a 'critically important site for wildlife'. He warned that birds who come from as far as Siberia and Iceland could be facing food shortages as fish near the collision site are affected by pollutants. 'Heavy fuel can directly impact birds who sit on the water as their feathers can be weighed down by oil and then if it spreads it can damage their food supply,' he said. He added that the site is like a 'service station on a motorway' for many birds migrating to different areas, which may now be short on supplies as they stop to refuel for their long journeys. HM Coastguard said in a statement its counter pollution and salvage team is 'developing a plan ready for implementation as soon as the situation allows'. It added that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has confirmed that air quality at ground level is 'currently within normal levels for the weather conditions', and the UK Health Security Agency has advised that any public health risk on shore is 'currently deemed to be very low'.
The Guardian
11-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
North Sea collision may have ‘devastating' impact on marine life, says expert
Leaking fuel from the collision between a cargo ship and oil tanker in the North Sea would have a 'devastating' impact on marine life, an expert has warned, as investigations began into the cause of the crash. Fires continued to burn onboard both vessels 24 hours after the Stena Immaculate tanker was struck off the coast of Yorkshire on Monday morning. A search for a missing crew member was called off overnight. As investigations were stepped up into the cause of the collision, a White House official reportedly refused to rule out foul play amid questions about why the cargo ship, the Solong – which was carrying cargo for the US military – appeared not to slow down or change course before striking the Stena Immaculate. Environmental experts warned that the jet fuel leaking from the 183-metre-long vessel was toxic for humans and wildlife. Dr Simon Boxall, an academic in oceanography at the University of Southampton, said the Jet A-1 fuel had a 'much higher toxicity' than crude oil and that 'the impact on that on life in the oceans would be devastating'. Melanie Onn, the MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, said it had been a 'shocking 24 hours' since the collision and that people were worried about the potential harm to the ecosystem. She said the government had not confirmed reports that the Solong was carrying the highly toxic chemical sodium cyanide when it ploughed into the Stena Immaculate. Onn told the Guardian on Tuesday: 'They don't know what the cargo is on that vessel. I think if it were sodium cyanide that would be really quite bad because it gets into contact with water and becomes airborne as well. It's a very, very serious chemical.' Boxall said it was not clear whether any sodium cyanide had leaked into the ocean but that it was 'not good news' if it had. 'If they do fall into the sea in the middle of that huge fireball then they turn very rapidly to hydrogen cyanide, which is really quite a dangerous gas,' he told Sky News. Dr Seyedvahid Vakili, a maritime expert at the University of Southampton, said it was difficult to determine the main cause of the collision but that in most cases 'human factors play a significant role'. 'This is particularly relevant for container vessels where high workloads and fatigue can be major contributing factors. At this stage it needs further comprehensive investigation,' he said. A US sailor onboard the Stena Immaculate told CBS News that the Solong 'came out of the blue', giving those onboard 'only seconds to react'. The crew member, who was not named, described how flames were lapping at the sailors as they evacuated the burning vessel, leaving some with singed hair. The whole incident from impact to evacuation lasted about 30 minutes, they said, adding that the operation was 'textbook'. The crew member said the Stena Immaculate had anchored at that spot and relayed its coordinates on Sunday, meaning all other vessels should have known where it was. Matthew Pennycook, a government minister, said Coastguard aircraft were monitoring the site of the incident off the East Yorkshire coast. He said: 'We are working with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to assess the impact on water pollution. The fire is obviously still raging.' He added: 'The Maritime and Coastguard Agency are well equipped to contain and disperse any oil spills. We don't think air quality impacts are outside of normal levels, but we will keep the situation obviously under review.'
