On the lower Mississippi River on March 19, 1968 around 0340 the SS African collided with the Midwest Cities, a towing vessel, which was transporting two tank barges. The front barge was the Intercity no. 14 and the rear was the Intercity no. 11. Intercity no. 11 was loaded with 19,000 barrels of crude oil. The crude oil’s combustible vapors escaped during the collision and led to a serious shipboard fire on the SS African Star. The SS African Star was headed downstream at a 140 degree true course at about 16 knots. The Midwest Cities was at about 320 degrees going 6 knots upstream. The two vessels were closing in on each other at about 22 knots. Despite the darkness, the visibility was good and both vessels were aware of the others presence …show more content…
The pilot thought everything was fine until the SS African Star blew the whistle twice when its bow was abeam to the barge, he said, he saw the green starboard lights on the African Star and responded with one whistle and then blew the whistle four time, while putting the Midwest Cities full astern and putting the rudder hard right to avoid the collision. According to the SS African Star, it was headed downstream just west of the middle of the river. He said he saw the Midwest Cities green starboard lights and tow lights off his starboard bow and that it was following the west bank. He thought it looked like a starboard to starboard passing. About half a mile from the barge the SS African Star put off two blast on the whistle, but was met without reply. Two minutes later the Midwest Cities started crossing the African Star’s starboard bow showing the red portside lights. The pilot ordered full astern and rudder hard right while sounding one blast on the whistle. All efforts to avoid the collision failed resulting in a terrible fire. The two post mortem statements from the two boats are contradictory, so it is difficult to determine the exact happenings leading up to the collision and …show more content…
Intercity no. 11 barge on the side at about a 45 degree angle. The collision caused the steel hulls of the two vessels to rub against each other and create sparks and heat from the friction. These sparks and heat could have potentially been the ignition source of the fire. The crude oil had an estimated flashpoint of 80 degrees Fahrenheit meaning the oil was a grade C flam¬mable liquid. Fire and explosions started in the first few minutes on Intercity no. 11. The Midwest Cities immediately went full astern to get away from the fire and Intercity no. 14 drifted away. The Intercity no. 11 grounded and sank. The vapors from the escaped crude oil were blown over the African Star’s bow and ignited. The flames spread throughout the ship. The fire was in hold 2, 4, and 5. The paint was burning and the supplies and cargo on deck was also on fire. The smoke was very thick and it filled a large portion of the ship, including the engine space and living quarters. The pilot decided the best option was to run the vessel aground to aid in the firefighting and rescue operations. There was burning oil around the vessel in the water. Some people tried to jump overboard but they would land in the fires. Many people tried to escape out the port holes due to the fact that they were trapped in their room. Many people’s life jackets and clothing caught on fire and they burned. Ropes on the life boats had burned, which made evacuation difficult.
Incident Chronology. At approximately 2:39 AM Freight Train 192 traveling at a speed of 47 mph crashed into parked train P22 causing a dangerous amount of chlorine gas to be release into the atmosphere. Fortunately, the engineers on site at the time of the accidents were not harm from the crash. Nonetheless, the magnitude of the crash alerted local residents who immediately called 911 approximately one minute after the crash. Some of the 911 calls received by the Aiken police department recorded a concerned resident saying “bleach gas smell and smoke on the ground” (A.E. Dunning, J Oswalt, 2005, pg. 130). Upon receiving several calls, the town’s emergency departments were on route minutes after being notified. However, when the fire chief heard
results of that was the greatest death ratio on any ship that day, the igniting of the
The Royals are a non-profit organization or business located in Kansas City, representing the American League Central within Major League Baseball. As a nonprofit organization, the Royals product is off the field as well as on the field.
On February 9, 1942 at New York City's pier 88 crowds gathered to witness the largest ocean liner in the world, the USS Lafayette be on fire. The Normandie was intended to set sail under the U.S. flag on February 14th, 1942.9 The conversion crew requested more time on February 6th because they believed the conversion would not be completed in time, their request was denied and were put in a frantic state to complete it in time. The time given for the conversion crew did not give them enough time to clean and prepare their work places making the condition more and more unsafe until it practically became more normal to them. At approximately 2:30pm a welder in the first class lounge of the SS Normandie was put under pressure with the short time frame to complete the job and did not move the life preservers which eventually ignited the fire. The Normandie's modern firefighting system was disabled during the conversion and once the New York Fire Department arrived
The Sulphur Queen was a 523-foot tanker that was originally intended to carry oil, but was converted to carry sulphur. On Feb. 3, 1963, the ship sent a radio report that placed it 230 miles southeast of New Orleans, La., according to a report by Time Magazine. Then nothing. There was no SOS and no warning of trouble. The ship simply disappeared.Two weeks later, pieces of a raft, a life vest and a broken oar washed up on Florida beaches. An investigation launched by the Coast Guard shortly after the disappearance concluded that the vessel was nowhere near seaworthy and likely caught fire at sea. Such a conclusion was not far-fetched. According to the article, "once, the Queen actually sailed into a New Jersey port with fires smoldering, unloaded her cargo, and sailed off again -- still burning."
The Fort Wayne’s downtown area has many historic buildings that are listed and protected in the national register. There are a mix of old historic homes to fifty plus year old homes along with new construction of apartment buildings. Therefore, there is a mix of old and new. There are many churches in the area from many religions from Catholic to Baptist to Seven Day Adventist as well as Muslim Mosque. A few of the Catholic and Lutheran churches date back to the early 1900’s. Heading southeast many of the homes are not well maintained with some being condemned and boarded up. Yards and many homes are in need of maintenance and litter or trash can be seen throughout neighborhoods. Stores that once were occupied are now empty and falling
Founded in 1764, St. Louis Missouri is home to many diverse groups, businesses, and corporations. Post American Civil War, local immigration and industrialization contributed to increasing populations. In terms of racial demographics, the majority ethnic backgrounds in St. Louis approximately include Whites, African Americans/Blacks, Latinos/Hispanics, and Asians. Similar to NYC, immigrants and refugees of war settled in St. Louis and created their own subculture. In the early 1990’s after the Bosnian War, more than forty thousand refugees arrived and established St. Louis as the largest Bosnian community aside from their home country of course.
Nestled in the heart of Halifax lies the legendary harbour. The day is December 6th, 1817. It seems as if it is a normal day in Halifax. The two ships that caused the explosion were the ‘Imo’ and the ‘Mont Blanc’. The Mont Blanc was a French general cargo and a munitions ship owned by Cie Generale Transatlantique. The ship was considered very old yet had a
Recently, a fire in El Segundo has occurred around October 17 a Tuesday night until the next day October 18 Wednesday at 10-11 o’clock at night. Hot orange yellow flames spread and a cloud of dark gray smoke traveled. According to Abc7 that, “firefighters responded to what has happened to the Chevron refinery and took them about 45 minutes to extinguish.” This refinery was built in 1911 and situated on 324 W. El Segundo Boulevard. A statement said by Chevron, “It is one of the largest on the West Coast, processes 274,000+ barrels of crude everyday, covers 1,000 acres, storage capacity of 12, and 5 million barrels in 150 storage tanks larger than 30 feet in diameter.” No flights were interfered with since it is south of Los Angeles International
The Texas City disaster took place on April 16th, 1947, with the detonation of 2300 tons of ammonium nitrate, near the Texas City docks. The Grandcamp was set to embark on an assigned trip to Europe to help in the reconstruction of various countries in the aftermath of the Second World War. The ships were loaded with 32.5 % ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which is a high explosive used in military and mining operations. The result of which was a DDT which is a deflagration to detonation causing a massive explosion leading to many deaths, destroyed homes, and the surroundings being ruined. The leading causes of this horrific tragedy were poor transportation and storing laws of ammonium nitrate which was a main component in the disaster, if these two components had have been handled with more care the lives of innocent people would not have been lost.
I am going to compare and contrast the two region midwest and the west region. In a article it stated that the Midwestern United States or Midwest refers to the north-central states of the United States of America, specifically Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The West, region, western U.S., mostly west of the Great Plains and including, by federal-government definition, Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The west region is hotter than the midwest region.
Philadelphia is one of the largest, most unique cities in the United States. Of the 1.55 million people who live all over the city, about 300,000 live in a section of Philadelphia called the Northeast. Northeast Philadelphia is a perfect area to visit or live. Northeast Philadelphia has everything you could want for in a city: fun attractions, delicious food, and friendly people. If you decide to visit Northeast Philadelphia, there will be no empty spaces on the to-do list. There is never a dull moment in Northeast Philadelphia.
Force would send out planes to assist in the search. Numerous land teams would crisscross the Bahamas and the Florida Keys searching in vain for signs of survivors or wreckage that may have washed ashore. One search and rescue ship, the S.S. Gaines Mills, radioed at 7:50 p.m. that they had observed a burst of flames that rose one hundred feet high and lasted for about ten minutes. Ships and planes rushed to the area, but no signs of debris or survivors were found.
In the early morning hours of November 8, 2010 the aft engine room of the Carnival Splendor ship caught fire, and left the ship without power. The Splendor ship is one of the largest ships in the Carnival fleet with 13 passenger decks. The ship is so large it requires six diesel engines to operate. Half of the engines are located in the aft (or rear) engine room and the other half are located in a forward engine room. These engine rooms are connected together by electric switchboards and cables. “The blaze was extinguished within a few hours by crew members with the aid of the built-in fire-suppression system” (O’Rourke, 2013, p140). Fortunately, no crew or passengers were injured (O’Rourke, 2013).
A french ship, the Mont Blanc carrying munitions bound for the french war effort in Europe, collided with a BelgiumRelief vessel, the Imo. Both ships were on the same lane and exploded.