Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Chemical Spill off Moreton Bay, 32 containers of ammonium nitrate! (update)

Tonnes of ammonium nitrate lost into sea of SE Qld

A ship has lost 32 containers of ammonium nitrate overboard in rough seas near Point Lookout at Stradbroke Island in south-east Queensland.

Three tonnes of the potentially dangerous chemical have also been spilt onto the deck of the 184-metre long container ship.

Each of the 32 lost containers are six metres long.
I've looked at a few youtube vids of what heat and flame can do to this chemical. I hope none of these containers, which notoriously float submerged like ice bergs, is hit by another ship.

Ammonium nitrate is a fertiliser, which will not be good for the reef!

Update:
Now there are calls to ABC Local Radio in Brisbane, people who have family/friends on a cruise are concerned about the cyclone and the lost containers and the cruise ship.
For starters, the ship they're on is in Port Vila, nowhere near the cyclone or the containers.
However, I suppose these people would be unaware that there are lost shipping containers floating just under the surface of the water in the oceans all around the world, they are a shipping hazard. Many times when ships vanish or sink for unknown reasons it is because they've hit a shipping container. Apparently car carrying ships lose containers mid-ocean often.

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