Mol Comfort
The total loss of MOL Comfort and its cargo is a new kind of disaster. Thousands of containers are awash, some are in the seawater column or at the bottom. They all contain materials that are entirely incompatible with the ecosystem of the Arabian Sea. Both wrecks of the MOL Comfort are now underwater disposals of hazardous waste, common waste and oil wastes.
The exact inventory of hazardous materials has not been disclosed by the owner. The ship had previously reached four Japanese ports. At the middle of its round trip, the container ship was supposed to reach Northern Europe. Japan is an exporter of chemicals and electronic equipment; the giant container ship was transporting all classes of hazardous materials, the only unknown being radioactive material. The fallout from the fire in the front part will contaminate the marine food chains. Containers adrift endangered navigation and when they will be gradually dislocated they will release hundreds of thousands of litters more or less floating in the sea.
The Big One
MOL Comfort disaster (follow up)
Information notice N°7
The fracture of the giant container ship Mol Comfort on June 17th, 2013 is turning into total disaster.
The aft part sank on June 27th, 11: 40 am (local time).
The attempted towing of the fore part towards the Sultanate of Oman is confronting difficulties which were predictable.
The sinking of the aft part of the MOL Comfort
MOL Comfort disaster (follow up)
Information notice N°6
The aft part of the MOL Comfort just sank at 46°26” North and 66°26” East; 750 km from the Indian coast. According to the owner, she still contained 1,700 containers; the others have already fallen into the sea, drifting and presenting a danger to navigation. She also contained 1,500 tonnes of fuel oil that will pollute waters abundant with tuna, sardines, sharks, and crustaceans.
The fore part is currently being towed to the Sultanate of Oman.
Uncertainty regarding the MOL Competence
MOL Comfort disaster (follow up)
Information notice N°5
The MOL Competence, sister ship of the giant container ship that snapped in two in the Arabian Sea on June 17, is still in the vicinity of the port of Le Havre, France. She is looping around in circles.
At the same time, as a precautionary measure, the ship-owner Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has decided to strengthen the hull structure of the container ships of the same serie as soon as possible. The ships will be temporarily taken out of service and the rotations of the MOL container ships will obviously be rearranged
A positive decision from Mitsui Osk Lines
MOL Comfort disaster (follow up)
The fore part of MOL Comfort is approaching the Indian coast. If she continues on her trajectory, she could ground south of Mumbai by the end of the week. The fore part of the wreck travels a hundred kilometers a day. The aft part moves more slowly – about 75 km / day – but in the same direction. Towing operations have not begun.
On June 20, Robin des Bois asked all involved parties, Mitsui Osk Line (MOL), the IMO, the European Union, the countries bordering the Arabian Sea and France, to immobilize the sister-ships of the MOL Comfort to identify the causes of the currently unexplained accident.
The Baguette Effect
MOL Comfort disaster
Subject : MOL Competence, shipwreck in the Bay of the Seine or in the Bay of Biscay?
This container ship is dangerous. Built at Nagasaki in 2008, she is one of the sister ships of the MOL Comfort that was fractured in two parts on June 17 in the Arabian Sea for unknown reasons.
MOL Comfort disaster. Letter sent to the concerning parties
Subject : MOL Comfort disaster – June 17th 2013
Addresses :
The General Secretary of the International Maritime Organization
Those responsible for the delegations of the International Maritime Organization in Iran, Yémen, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, India, Japan, Egypt, and the Bahamas (MOL Comfort flag)
The President of the Mitsui OSK Lines Company
The Commissioner of Transports of the European Union
The Commissioner of the Environment of the European Union
The Prime Minister of Japan
The Minister of Transportation of France
The Achilles Heel of Global Commerce
Mol Comfort disaster
A 316 meter long container ship broke in two after some hours of undulation in the Arabian Sea. The MOL Comfort was transporting the equivalent of 7,040 standard sized containers. The fate of the front and rear sections, and the number of containers that fell into the ocean, are uncertain. The Arabian Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes; it connects the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea by the Suez Canal.
The MOL Comfort in the process of snapping in two on June 17, 2013
Photo IANS – Indo-Asian News Service
Delivery of nuclear fuel to Japan. Position of Robin des Bois
The new Japanese Nuclear Safety Authority (NRA – Nuclear Regulation Authority) is considered independent. It will publish this summer 2013 a collection of basic safety rules and prescribe generic or specific work to each nuclear site in the archipelago.
These preventive improvements will take several months to a few years. They will be carried out under the precondition that the political decision to relaunch nuclear power is affirmed and accepted by civil society.
The risks of a transoceanic shipping of spent fuel containing plutonium are unacceptable today, particularly because of political, military and nuclear tensions between North Korea, South Korea and Japan.
