Container ship fire in Indian Ocean 4

[IRstuff]

https://news.yahoo.com/watch-unbelievable-footage-shows-massive-191910459.html

Lots of chemicals on-board, apparently.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

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[drwebb]

OK, thanks for the correction on the difference between microplastics and nanoplastics. Now I can understand why increasing advocacy is directed toward microplastics, since any regulation thereof will affect suppliers of plastic resins as raw material and not only the responsible disposal of finished products. It appears from the illustration in the linked story that a lot of the microplastic cargo is washing ashore (being less dense than salt water or sand) and is being collected in yellow bags. I doubt recovery of the 25 tons of nitric acid or marine fuel will be as convenient.

 

[TugboatEng]

The captain has been arrested.

https://gcaptain.com/x-press-pearl-captain-arrested-media/

They knew the nitric acid was leaking prior to sailing. The previous port did not have the capability to handle the situation.

 

[drwebb]

A vessel full of combustibles/flammables that was leaking a strong oxidizer would seem to be unseaworthy on it's face. Does maritime law or custom ascribe any responsibility for ports ensuring commercial vessels disembarking are seaworthy? Some ports apparently assume this. Not clear what other options the captain had if he couldn't get any help in Qatar or Gujarat, but of course he's as senior a party as the Sri Lankan's could collar.

Not to rush to judgment, but from the information available so far it's looking more to me like a failure of execution and/or compliance than an Engineering Failure. Perhaps time will show otherwise.

 

[TugboatEng]

Here in the US, to get inspectors on a ship usually requires an incident such as a loss of propulsion.