Shipwreck Log

A barge being pushed by the 135 foot long towboat Crimson White went aground on the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway near Iuka, Mississippi.  The barge was damaged with  the hull holed.   There were no injuries.  The Coast Guard is conducting an investigation into the incident.  The Crimson White was pushing five barges at the time with four loaded with rocks.

The 20 meter long tug Commando sank on the Ijssel River near Krimpen (Rotterdam), Netherlands.   The tug was assisting other vessels in the area when it capsized and sank.   The two men on board were rescued by the tug Gepke.   No reports of injuries.

More photos as haveninzicht.nl

Search and Recovery

Eight bodies were discovered by salvage workers from the submerged section of  Deck 4 of the cruise ship.   The workers were able to recover four of the bodies before weather conditions halted operations.

Oil Recovery

The first phase of removal of fuel from the Costa Concordia was completed.   Fuel was successfully pumped from the six tanks in the bow section removing some 1600 tons of the 2380 tons of fuel on board.   The second phase will remove fuel from nine tanks at the stern of the vessel which contains roughly 17% of the total fuel.  The fuel in the stern section was reported to be more difficult to reach and will take roughly three weeks to completely pump out.

Displacement

Authorities have been tracking the movement of the vessel as it slowly creeps off the rocky ledge it currently rests.   Recent estimates place the average movement near two centimeters (approx one inch) an hour.   The vessel has made slight accelerations due to weather or sea conditions.   If the Costa Concordia does not increase its speed, it should allow time for all the fuel to removed.

The 302 meter long, 78830 dwt container ship MOL Maneuver collided with the 275 meter long, 51985 dwt container ship Zhen He in the South China Sea near Hong Kong.  There were no reports of injuries or pollution being released from either vessels.  The cause of the collision is not yet known.   The MOL Maneuver was able to proceed under its own power en route to Singapore from Yantian.   The status of the Zhen He was not reported.