A Plastic Sea in the Seine River
Millions of polypropylene widgets used to attract bacteria in wastewater treatment plants are drifting along in the Seine after being dumped by either the Essonne Intercommunal Union for Sanitation and River Restoration (1) or its subcontractors.
The Norwegian inventor describes the technology as “a 3-room apartment with a kitchen where bacteria can live comfortably and eat pollutants in wastewater.” The technology, described in France as Radical Flow Fluidized Filter (R3F), is considered easy and economical to operate. The lifespan of the “biomedias” (2) is 20 to 25 years. They are used in Bordeaux, Mulhouse and upstream of Paris, to name a few locations. These bacteria niches can amount to 19 million units per 100 m3 of water. Operators have obviously released them in large numbers into the natural environment.
The Eventful Life of a Family.
Subject: Disabled Ship in Cherbourg
Disabled in Cherbourg due to propulsion damages, the Baco Liner 1, the eldest of the family, launched in 1979, has been detained for three days in the Port of Antwerp (Belgium) in June 2009 with 34 deficiencies of which 11 are relative to the propulsion and auxiliary equipment.
The 24 Baco Liner 2 Filipino crewmembers had been taken hostage for three weeks in February 2007 near the port of Warri in Nigeria by the group « Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta ». No ransom was paid. The kidnappers declared that the ship transported smuggled weapons and ammunitions. A spokesperson from Baco Liner denied comments.
Hunting down the Onyx (4)
Prayati Shipping PVT, based in Bombay, owner of the car ferry Onyx, confirms its position as a wrecking ship owner. Asian ship-breaking yards appear to be the only destination of the vessels of its “fleet”.
Identified in the summer of 2009 for having sold the old tanker President to a demolition yard in Bangladesh, only a couple of months after having bought it, Prayati Shipping PVT had also become at the same time the owner of the Rose S, a bulk carrier built in 1976 (see “Hunting down the Onyx, February 4, 2010). Today, the owner just got rid of the Onyx which was detained in ports across the world, and which has not sailed since her purchase: the Rose S has just been beached for demolition in Alang.
Hunting down the Onyx (4)
Prayati Shipping PVT, based in Bombay, owner of the car ferry Onyx, confirms its position as a wrecking ship owner. Asian ship-breaking yards appear to be the only destination of the vessels of its “fleet”.
Identified in the summer of 2009 for having sold the old tanker President to a demolition yard in Bangladesh, only a couple of months after having bought it, Prayati Shipping PVT had also become at the same time the owner of the Rose S, a bulk carrier built in 1976 (see “Hunting down the Onyx, February 4, 2010). Today, the owner just got rid of the Onyx which was detained in ports across the world, and which has not sailed since her purchase: the Rose S has just been beached for demolition in Alang.
