MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Why this video made me think of the Baratz, and sigh…

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On 5 December 2012, the car carrier Baltic Ace sank with more than 1,400 cars on board after a collision with a container ship near the entrance of the main shipping lane leading to Rotterdam port. Rijkswaterstaat contracted Boskalis and its partner Mammoet Salvage for the wreck removal operation.

The Baltic Ace was laid down in 2007 in Poland, only to meet sudden death five years later in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes off the Dutch coast south of Rotterdam. Since it sank with 540,000 liters of oil onboard, despite being insured only for about $55 million, $73 million had to be spent on the salvage operation. Read that number again: The salvage operation cost $18 Million more than the insured value!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL5F-6DUuYk

Compare the Baltic Ace to the Baratz Fishing vessel that sunk off of Cape Recife on 26 November 2015:

Baltic Ace:

  • Length: 148 metres
  • Deadweight Tonnage: 7 787 tons
  • Oil on board: 540 000 litres (around 470 tons)
  • Cargo: 1 400 cars
  • Seabed completely cleared of wreckage and all oil recovered

Baratz:

  • Length: 29 metres
  • Deadweight Tonnage: ESTIMATED at 1 368 tons
  • Oil on Board: 70 tons of diesel fuel (around 80 365 litres)
  • Cargo: 30 tons of bait
  • Only loose and salvageable equipment removed, lots of oil seeped into sea, wreckage still on seabed

Somehow we are not showing nature any respect here in Algoa Bay.

Related Links: Fishing boat sinks off Cape Recife | We are in danger of destroying our HOPE SPOT | Video – Diesel escaping from the wreck of the Baratz | Baratz Diesel and Rope Flotsam | Baratz wreck is a ‘No Go No Dive’ area | Underwater Footage of the Wreck of the Baratz | NMBT Comment on the Baratz.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.